New chartered air carrier to begin operations soon
New chartered air carrier to begin operations soon
JAKARTA (JP): A private chartered air carrier has been established and is scheduled to begin operations in February to cater for cargo and passenger services to local and regional destinations, a company executive said.
Commercial director of the newly established PT Camar Nuansa Airservice, Jasman Karimin, said on Tuesday the company was upbeat about generating US$2.44 million in net profits in 2000.
"The prospects for this business are very good, especially in relation to cargo service. We are also expecting some profits from passengers services. We have received orders to bring Indonesian workers to regional countries like Malaysia," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said the demand in cargo handling had recently been increasing, partly due to the fact that several existing scheduled airlines were unable to process all of their shipments because they had focused their efforts more on passenger services.
Data from the Directorate General of Air Transportation shows the demand in cargo services has begun to recover, rising by a paltry 2 percent to reach 108,357 tons in 1999 after plunging by 20.6 percent in 1998.
Jasman said the company would initially operate cargo services from Jakarta to, among others, Balikpapan and Batam with stopovers at Kuching in Malaysia and Seletar in Singapore.
As for passenger services, Camar will fly from Jakarta to Bandung in West Java, Bandarlampung, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara as well as Irian Jaya, he said.
Camar's president, Capt. Almirul Bawono, said the airline was currently negotiating with Air Royal Cambodia to provide chartered services for Cambodian people residing in Australia and New Zealand to fly to Phnom Penh.
"The passengers will be flown by Ansett Australia or Air New Zealand to Bali, where they will be transferred to our planes to go to Phnom Penh via Singapore," he said.
He added that Camar was also negotiating with Ansett to bring tourists from Portheadland and Cairns in Australia to Bali.
Jasman said the company had invested no less than $1.5 million to finance the initial preparation, including the procurement of three Boeing 737-200s and two Russian Antonov An-12s for operations in 2000.
The five planes were scheduled to arrive in Jakarta this month, he said, adding that the firm planned to increase the number of planes to reach 15 within five years.
There are currently about seven chartered airlines operating out of 53 chartered airlines registered at the Ministry of Communications. (cst)