Mandala increases flights 20%

JAKARTA: Mandala Airlines will increase its flight frequency to 14 destinations by up to 20 percent, raising seats from 9,300 to 11,068 per day to anticipate a surging number of passengers during the holiday season.

The increased service will start Nov. 20, the firm said in a statement, but it did not specify how long the new operation time table would remain in effect.

"To anticipate sharp a increase of passengers during Idul Fitri, Christmas and New Year, Mandala Airlines will improve its service by increasing flight frequency to 85 flights per day," president director Suhadi said in the statement.

Aside from increasing flight frequency, the airlines will also replace its Boeing 737-200 planes, with 100 seats, with the larger Boeing 727-200, 167 seats, to serve the busier routes.

Routes that will have increased flight frequencies are Jakarta-Batam, Jakarta-Balikpapan, Jakarta-Surabaya-Denpasar, Jakarta-Jambi, Jakarta-Semarang, Banjarmasin-Surabaya, while routes which have new aircraft are Jakarta-Ujung Pandang-Ambon, Jakarta-Medan, Jakarta-Surabaya-Banjarmasin, Jakarta-Padang and Jakarta-Ujung Pandang-Manado --JP