Merpati opens new routes amid optimism

Merpati opens new routes amid optimism

By Hidayat Jati

SINGAPORE (JP): PT Merpati Nusantara, a subsidiary of Garuda
Indonesia, yesterday began servicing the route between Singapore
and Bandung in West Java, aiming to achieve a load factor of 60
percent.

"We serve this route everyday by F-28 aircraft with a capacity
of 80 seats," Ibnu Soekotjo, a Merpati director, told reporters
shortly after arriving in the Lion City yesterday.

He said the Bandung-Singapore route is expected to increase
Merpati's net revenue this year by 13.20 percent over last year
to Rp 600 billion (US$27.2 million).

International services contributed some 20 percent to
Merpati's revenue last year, Soekotjo said.

He explained that the new route is the concrete realization of
last month's agreement between the two countries.

The new route increases Merpati's frequencies to Singapore to
16 times weekly, Soekotjo said.

He explained that the existing routes between the two
countries include twice weekly flights from Pontianak, West
Kalimantan, the four times a week service from Pekanbaru, Riau,
and the thrice weekly flights from Padang, West Sumatra.

The executive conceded to The Jakarta Post that the airline's
overall load factor is only about 50 percent. "We are determined
to improve this," he said.

He also explained that Bandung was selected over the country's
second largest city, Surabaya in East Java, because Merpati "is
not yet prepared to compete in the lucrative Surabaya market. And
our studies suggest that we should put a priority on Bandung."

He added that Bandung has a great deal of business potential.
The city has a "significant" garment-industry. "Bandung is
basically a sleeping giant and we will wake it up."

Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said earlier in
the hilly West Java capital that he is planning to renovate the
Bandung airport under a state-sponsored project estimated to
require Rp 30 billion (US$13.7 million) in investment.

Soekotjo also said yesterday that Merpati will add new
international routes next year to link Ambon in Maluku with
Darwin in Australia, and Pekanbaru with Johor in Malaysia.