Lufthansa to add flights to Jakarta

Lufthansa to add flights to Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Lufthansa German Airlines will add two more
direct flights connecting Jakarta and Frankfurt in January next
year to anticipate a surge in demand resulting from an
improvement in the country's economic and political condition.

Lufthansa's general manager for Indonesia, Carlos M.
Heinemann, said on Friday the plan to increase the flights
reflected the company's strong confidence in Indonesia.

"Germany's commitment to Indonesia has always been strong.
There are many German companies operating here and I have not
heard of any of the firms pulling out because of the situation
here," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said another driving factor in the company's decision to
open two more direct flights, just after it opened one direct
flight earlier this month, were the encouraging signs of business
recovery in the country.

"We notice an upward trend in the company's business this
year. We did not have a bad result in 1999 compared to 1998," he
said.

Lufthansa maintained a better average load factor of over 80
percent so far this year, higher than about 70 percent the
airline endured last year, he said.

He said the airline was upbeat that it would maintain the load
factor at over 80 percent next year.

The two additional flights are meant to anticipate the
expected increase in tourists flowing in and out of Jakarta and
Frankfurt following the improved economic, social and political
conditions in Indonesia after the establishment of the new
government under the leadership of President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Lufthansa opened last week one direct flight every Wednesday,
in addition to the weekly Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
schedules, resulting in five Lufthansa flights per week.

In addition to the five direct flights, Lufthansa also offers
two code-sharing flights with Singapore Airlines, connecting with
daily Lufthansa flights from Singapore to Frankfurt.

Heinemann said Lufthansa had seven direct flights in 1997, but
then reduced them by three due to the decline in passenger demand
in line with the emergence of economic and political turmoil in
Indonesia.

The decline in passenger demand had also forced Lufthansa to
cut its ticket price by 70 percent, he said, adding that the
price had been adjusted though was still about 30 percent lower
than the pre-1997 period.

Despite the optimism for higher tourist arrivals, Heinemann
said Lufthansa had no interest in opening a direct flight service
to Bali or other destinations here.

"We are concentrating on Germany, while Garuda is
concentrating on Indonesia. Besides, direct flights to Bali are
too costly to operate. It's not practical and not interesting
economically and commercially," he said.

Lufthansa closed its direct flights to Bali in 1997, not due
to the crisis, but because it was considered as unprofitable, he
said, adding that Lufthansa's current license to ply directly to
Bali from Frankfurt might be better off used by Germany's charter
airline Condor, if Lufthansa decided to review its policy on the
Bali route.

Lufthansa started its business in Indonesia in 1967 with only
one Boeing 707 aircraft. It then raised the flight frequency to
two in 1975 in line with the introduction of the wide-body
aircraft DC-10s.

Data from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture shows that
German visitors ranked seventh and eight during the last couple
of years. About 167,600 Germans visited Indonesia in 1996,
186,000 in 1997 and 187,000 in 1998.

Lufhansa is one of the founding members of the Star Alliance,
an international airlines league which includes Air Canada, SAS-
Scandinavian Airlines, THAI Airways International, United
Airlines, VARIG Brazilian Airlines, Air New Zealand and Ansett
Australia. (cst)