Qantas extends its RI services

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)