RI grants SIA more seats to Bali

RI grants SIA more seats to Bali

JAKARTA: Indonesia has granted Singapore Airlines Ltd. and the
city state's other full-service airlines permission to offer more
seats to Jakarta and the resort island of Bali, while keeping a
cap on low-fare carriers.

Singapore Air, Asia's largest airline by market value, will be
allowed to raise its seat capacity by 15 percent on flights to
the Indonesian capital and Denpasar in Bali, said Cucuk Suryo
Suprojo, director-general in charge of air transportation at
Indonesia's Transport Ministry, in a telephone interview on
Tuesday in Jakarta.

The Indonesian government, which owns PT Garuda Indonesia,
wants to protect the Jakarta-based airline from Malaysian Airline
Systems Bhd, Singapore Airlines and Southeast Asia's 10 low-fare
carriers, which are expanding in Asia. Garuda posted a first-
quarter operating loss of Rp 139 billion rupiah (US$14.6
million), almost double its loss last year.

To help Garuda compete, the government limits the number of
seats overseas airlines can sell on routes to Indonesian cities.
The quotas, applied to individual cities, are negotiated between
governments, Transport Minister Hatta Rajasa said on May 20.-- AP