Japanese tourists to RI drop by 15 percent

JAKARTA (JP): The number of Japanese tourists visiting Indonesia has dropped by 15 percent following the recent crash landing of a Garuda DC-10 airliner at Fukuoka airport, southwest of Japan, a minister said.

"We can understand Japanese tourists' trauma caused by the accident. But in two to three months, things will return to normal, particularly because the Japanese route is no longer served by DC-10 aircraft," Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said in Semarang yesterday, Antara reported.

At the June 13 accident, a Garuda DC-10 jet was engulfed in flames after a failed take-off, leaving three people dead and scores others injured.

Haryanto conceded yesterday that after the accident, Indonesia stopped operating DC-10s to Japan.

"We are operating Boeing 747s and MD-11s to replace the DC-10s for services to Japan," he said.

"The replacements will not be temporary. We decided to halt operating DC-10s from Japanese services permanently," he said.

He said that Garuda, however, still operates its five DC-10 airliners on other routes. But Garuda will replace the airliners with new airplanes.

Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication Joop Ave acknowledged in Cilacap, Central Java, last week that the DC-10 accident has slightly harmed the Indonesian tourism industry.

"A number of Japanese travel bureaus canceled their tourist programs to Indonesia after the accident. But conditions are expected to gradually get back to normal," he said. (13)