Korea's Asiana to fly to Jakarta next month

JAKARTA (JP): Asiana Airlines, one of South Korea's airlines, will launch its maiden flight to Jakarta early next month as part of its regional expansion.

Shin C. Kang, the airline's vice president for marketing and sales, said here on Wednesday that Asiana would serve the Seoul- Jakarta route three times a week with its 236-seat Boeing 767 beginning on May 5.

"We hope the load factor will reach between 65 and 75 percent," he told reporters following the opening of the airline's representative office in Jakarta.

He acknowledged that the timing for the opening of the Seoul- Jakarta route was not so good, given the currently unfavorable state of Indonesia's economy and political situation.

"But, we believe that Indonesia's political stability will soon recover." Shin added.

According to Shin, the number of Koreans visiting Indonesia is only about 160,000 a year, which is still low if compared with those visiting other South East Asian countries. In comparison, Koreans visiting Thailand number 600,000 a year.

Under a bilateral agreement between the Indonesian and South Korean governments, there are 20 flights a week, available to and from Indonesia and South Korea.

Indonesia's main airline, Garuda Indonesia, flies the Jakarta- Seoul route four times a week. The Indonesian flag carrier resumed its Korean flights in October last year after being suspended in 1998, following Indonesia's worst ever economic crisis.

South Korea's main airline, Korean Airlines, which has been serving Indonesia for about 10 years, flies the Seoul-Jakarta route seven times a week.

"If we fly three times a week, it means that we will have used all the flights available to Korean airlines," Shin said. "We plan to increase our flights to four times a week by the end of this year, if the Indonesian government permits us to do so," he added. (03)