Merpati to fly to HK next month

JAKARTA (JP): Merpati Nusantara Airlines, the sister company of the country's national carrier Garuda Indonesia, will start three flights a week to Hong Kong next month using its 262 seat Airbus A-300-600.

The maiden flight will be on Dec.22.

"We have won the license from the Indonesian government but we are still waiting for clearance from the Hong Kong aviation authority for the maiden flight's schedule," Merpati spokesman Ivan said yesterday.

He said Merpati expected 60 percent load factor for the new route.

The service to Hong Kong will be Merpati's sixth international route after Port Headland, Melbourne and Darwin in Australia, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Merpati will compete with Garuda, Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific and Taiwan's China Airlines which already serve the Jakarta-Hong Kong route.

Garuda flies to Hong Kong seven times a week with Boeing B-747-200s, Cathay Pacific 13 times a week with B-747-200s and A- 330-300s, while China Airlines has three flights a week with B- 747-200s.

Garuda plans to use its new A-330-300s on the Jakarta-Hong Kong route while China Airlines plans to increase its flights to seven a week in January.

Hong Kong is one of Indonesia's major tourist markets and a popular destination for Indonesian visitors. Last year, 108,487 Hong Kong tourists visited Indonesia while 184,417 Indonesians visited Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Tourist Association data shows 136,059 Indonesians visited Hong Kong between January and September this year.

The Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board projected tourists from Hong Kong would decrease to just 80,000 by 2000. (icn)