Merpati opens two new routes to Malaysia

Merpati opens two new routes to Malaysia

JAKARTA (JP): PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines, a subsidiary of
the national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, will begin new flight
services to Tawau and Johor Baru in Malaysia.

Merpati, which recently started a route between Ambon and
Darwin in Australia, will open the Ujungpandang (S. Sulawesi)-
Balikpapan (E. Kalimantan)-Tawau service on Sunday, A. Tondo
Widodo, a public relations officer of the airline said here
yesterday.

He added that the route would be served by Fokker-28s on
Thursdays and Sundays.

Widodo said the airline would also open another border-
crossing service linking Surabaya in East Java and Johor Baru
twice a week starting on Aug. 17.

The service on Thursdays and Sundays will use Boeing 737-200
aircraft.

Merpati, he added, will start a new flight service between
Pekanbaru of the Riau archipelago and Johor Baru on Aug. 17. The
service on Thursdays and Sundays will operate Fokker-28 aircraft.

Widodo said the border-crossing flight services were quite
promising in view of the large number of Indonesians working in
Malaysia.

"There are about 300,000 Indonesians, mostly from Ujungpandang
and Balikpapan, who work in Tawau and another 400,000 in Johor
Baru," he said. (04)