Qantas extends its RI services

JAKARTA (JP): The Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways will open additional routes to Indonesia later this year, visiting Australian Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer said yesterday.

Both Garuda Indonesia and Qantas will increase their services, including cargo services, Fischer said after meeting with President Soeharto at Bina Graha.

Fisher, who is also minister of trade, said that other airlines which serve the two countries, such as Lufthansa, will also increase their services.

Qantas, 25 percent owned by British Airways Plc., currently links Australia and Indonesia 21 times per week, including the Jakarta-Sydney route seven times a week and three times a week from Jakarta to Perth.

In the year ended 31 October, 1995, 721,000 passengers traveled on the Australia-Indonesia route, a 14 percent increase over the preceding year.

Fischer said all Australian state capitals, except for Hobart in Tasmania, will be accessible from Indonesia.

Garuda currently serves the Jakarta-Brisbane route four times per week and Jakarta-Cairns two times per week. The airline also flies to four other Australian cities -- Perth (seven times per week), Melbourne (six times per week), Sydney (seven times per week) and Darwin (once a week).

Other airlines linking Indonesia and Australia include Sempati Air (serving Jakarta-Perth four times per week), Merpati Nusantara (Kupang-Darwin two times per week), Ansett (Jakarta- Sydney four times per week, Denpasar-Perth two times per week and Denpasar-Darwin two times per week) and Qantas (Jakarta-Sydney seven times per week and Jakarta-Perth three times per week).

Merpati Nusantara, a Garuda subsidiary, will increase its Australia service next month with a Jakarta-Melbourne route served three times a week.

Fischer said the additional flights are a preliminary step towards the promotion of tourism cooperation between the two countries. (icn)