Merpati to fly to Singapore from Yogyakarta next week

Merpati to fly to Singapore from Yogyakarta next week

JAKARTA (JP): PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines, a subsidiary of
Garuda Indonesia, will start twice-a-week service to Singapore
from Yogyakarta through Bandung in West Java on Oct. 24, a
company executive says.

"The new route will be served with Fokker-28 aircraft with a
capacity of 64 seats," Merpati's manager for operations, Heru
Santoso, announced in Yogyakarta on Saturday.

He said Merpati is also now preparing new direct flights from
Surakarta (Solo) in Central Java to Singapore with Fokker-28
airplanes.

"We plan that flights for the two routes bound for Singapore
will start at 7 a.m on Mondays and Thursdays, with estimated
arrivals at 11:50 a.m.," Heru said as quoted by Antara news
agency.

He expected that the flights from Surakarta to Singapore will
start before the end of this year.

Heru said the new routes are part of the Indonesian-
Singaporean air agreement, which was signed by Minister of
Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto and his Singaporean
counterpart Mah Bow Tan last month in Yogyakarta.

Under the air agreement, whose signing was witnessed by
President Soeharto and Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong,
five Indonesian airlines -- Garuda Indonesia, Merpati Nusantara,
Sempati Air, Bouraq Indonesia and Mandala Airlines --
are allowed to take passengers from any points in Indonesia bound
for Singapore and to proceed on flights to any destinations in
the world.

Previously, only three Indonesian Airlines -- Garuda
Indonesia, Merpati Nusantara and Sempati Air -- served flights to
Singapore.

The new air bilateral deal, in return, allows Singapore
Airlines and SilkAir of Singapore to fly directly to three more
Indonesian cities -- Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi, Surakarta in
Central Java and Mataram in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

The two Singaporean airlines are also permitted to continue
their existing services for 10 Indonesian cities: Denpasar,
Medan, Surabaya, Manado, Padang, Pekanbaru, Pontianak, Ambon,
Biak and Jakarta. (fhp)