Pelita plans to operate scheduled flights in April

Pelita plans to operate scheduled flights in April

JAKARTA (JP): Private charter air carrier PT Pelita Air
Service said it would expand its business into the scheduled
airline sector in April 2000 to serve 12 destination cities
across the country.

Company president Soeratman said on Wednesday the company was
upbeat that it would be able to generate reasonable revenues
despite imminent competition with five existing scheduled
airlines.

"We expect our new business will contribute about Rp 100
billion (US$14.2 million) to our predicted total revenues of Rp
600 billion for 2000," he told The Jakarta Post after witnessing
the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the
company and national airline Garuda Indonesia.

Under the contract, Garuda's maintenance facility will take
care of the maintenance and repair of Pelita Air's Fokker 28.

Soeratman said Pelita Air was currently preparing to meet all
the requirements set by the government in order to obtain the
airline operation certificate, a prerequisite for a scheduled
airline.

The preparations for the requirements, including the
standardization of manual operation procedures and procurement of
aircraft, got under way four months ago and were expected to be
completed sometime in the first quarter of 2000, he said.

Soeratman said the company, which is a subsidiary of state oil
and gas company Pertamina, invested no less than $15 million to
support, among other things, the procurement of aircraft.

He said Pelita Air would initially operate seven aircraft,
comprising four Boeings and three Fokkers, to support its
operation of 15 routes to the 12 destinations.

"We are going to focus on domestic routes first, especially
the main cities in Sumatra and Kalimantan, as well as several
destinations in Java and Nusa Tenggara," he said.

He said Pelita Air, which started operation in 1970, currently
operates as a charter air carrier, serving mainly mining, timber
and oil companies in the country.

It currently has 48 aircraft, comprising 24 fixed-wing
aircraft and 24 helicopters, he said. He said the company's
decision to enter the scheduled service business was to take
advantage of the government's new approach in the aviation sector
by allowing more airlines to serve as scheduled carriers.

The Directorate General for Air Transportation of the Ministry
of Communications has in previous years limited the number of
scheduled airlines due to low passenger demand.

However, it recently decided to give existing charters or new
air carriers chances to apply for a license on scheduled airlines
to serve the idle domestic routes previously flown by the now
defunct Sempati Air.

The directorate reported three carriers -- Pelita Air Service,
Indonesian Airlines Avi Patria and Mentari Airlines -- were among
the most prepared applicants.

Indonesian Airlines said it obtained the principle certificate
and would commence operation, serving 46 domestic routes in
January 2000.

Indonesia currently has five operating scheduled airlines,
namely national airline Garuda Indonesia and Merpati Nusantara
Airlines and privately owned Bouraq, Mandala and Dirgantara Air
Service, in addition to 56 chartered air carriers.

The country's entire fleet serves 134 routes to over 90
destinations across the archipelago.

The five scheduled airlines serve about 65 of 134 total routes
on an average load factor of 65 percent, which is higher than the
50 percent average recorded last year. (cst)