Local airlines asked to establish alliance

JAKARTA (JP): Garuda Indonesia Airlines yesterday invited other domestic carriers in the country to join forces in competing with their international competitors.

Garuda's commercial director Sudarso Kaderi said the proposed alliance would help the six local airlines, now mostly in financial difficulties, to improve their services.

He said the alliance, called Indonesian Airline Incorporated, would strengthen the market position of the countries' airline companies.

"The financial situation of our local airlines may be skinned and bruised already, but it is better late than never," Sudarso said of the importance of the cooperation.

The proposal had been disclosed in several meetings involving the Director General of Transportation and the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA), he said.

INACA expected to meet the Minister of Transportation, Haryanto Dhanutirto, sometime next week to discuss the proposal, he said.

He said the partnerships would include using the same reservation network facilities owned by Garuda, called Arga III.

The alliance could also use the facilities of PT Abacus, partly owned by Garuda, for reservations including ticketing, hotels and local transportation.

The alliance could also use Garuda's training center for its staff and the aircraft repair shop, he said.

He added about 42 foreign airlines from 22 countries now flew to 23 cities in Indonesia, as the result of the "limited open sky" policy.

The foreign airlines included Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary Silk Air which flew 95 times a week here and Malaysia Airlines and its subsidiary Pelangi Air which flew 47 times a week, he said.

"Malaysia's Pelangi Air, for example, flies to many smaller Indonesian cities such as Pekan Baru and Padang," he said.

Indonesia has five other airlines: Bouraq Indonesia, Merpati Nusantara Airlines, Sempati Air, Mandala Airlines and Dirgantara Air Service. (das)