Private airline Star Air to begin services Sunday

JAKARTA (JP): Private local airline Star Air will commence services on Sunday with flights from Jakarta to Makassar in South Sulawesi and to Surabaya in East Java.

Company vice president J. Tumenggung said on Friday that Star Air chose to fly from Jakarta to both provinces after identifying growing demand in the areas.

"We're optimistic about receiving a good response from the public," he told a news conference.

Scheduling and product planning manager Emizola Maas said the airline would carry 53 passengers to Makassar and 30 passengers to Surabaya on its maiden flights.

"For the first year, we're targeting to get a load factor of 50 percent on both routes," he said, adding that the company would offer discounts during the first month of operation to attract customers.

The airline is one of the new private airlines allowed to operate in the country since the government deregulated the airline sector last year.

Including Star Air, there are now seven new private airlines operating in the country, aside from state-owned Garuda Indonesia, Garuda's subsidiary Merpati Nusantara, Mandala Airlines and Bouraq Indonesia, which were allowed to operate prior to the deregulation. The other new private airlines are Dirgantara Air Services, Bayu Indonesia Air, Awair Internasional, Lion Mentari Airlines, Pelita Air Service and Airmark Indonesia.

According to Emizola, Star Air will fly the Jakarta-Makassar route once daily and the Jakarta-Surabaya route twice daily.

Passengers will be transported on a Boeing 737-200 plane that has 99 seats, comprising eight for business class and 91 for economic class, Emizola said, adding it was one of the two planes the airline had chartered from international leasing firm Sigfen 1 this year.

The other Boeing 737-200 will arrive at the end of this month, he said.

Star Air pays between $85,000 and $125,000 a month for the leasing, he added.

Departure time from Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta to Hasanuddin Airport, Makassar, will be at 6 a.m. while the return flight from Makassar will be at 10 a.m. local time.

For the Jakarta-Surabaya flight, the plane will depart from Jakarta at 12:30 p.m. and depart Surabaya for the return flight at 2:30 p.m.

It will take off from Jakarta once again at 4:30 p.m. and leave Surabaya at 6:30 p.m.

The airline plans to operate more local routes including the Jakarta-Medan, Jakarta-Batam and Jakarta-Balikpapan routes as well as fly between Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

"We hope to obtain a permit for the Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur service in the next two months," he said.

Star Air, established in May last year, is a joint venture between PT Dwipusaka Abadi, which controls 75 percent of the airline, and PT Habitat Saga Perkasa with 25 percent. The company's total investment is valued at Rp 200 billion (US$17.5 million).

Dwipusaka Abadi is a holding company of three tour and travel agents: Anta Tour, Vaya Tour and Ramada Bintang Bali Hotel Tour.(5)