Riau plans own airline

JAKARTA (JP): The Riau administration is planning to set up its own airline, starting initially with two small planes, to link up the various towns in the province which consists largely of small islands, Antara reported on Saturday.

To realize its plan, the administration will allocate around Rp 36 billion ($3.8 million), the news agency quoted Ruskin Har, vice chairman of the Riau Development and Planning Agency (Bappeda), as saying.

"The plan for Riau Airlines had been included in the administration's 2001 budget," Ruskin said in Pekanbaru, capital of Riau. "The provincial administration will raise Rp 10 billion, and the 15 regency administrations will raise another Rp 26 billion," he said.

The money would be used to buy two U.S. built Cessna Caravan planes which can carry 12 passengers, and to charter three Brazilian built Embraer 120 ERs, each with a load factor of 30 passengers, he said.

Meanwhile, Capt. Budi Santosa, identified by Antara as a Cessna representative in Jakarta and a pilot hailing from Riau, said Cessna aircraft could land on non-permanent airstrips.

A dry field of between 200 and 250 meters would be adequate, he said.

Budi expressed his optimism on the future of Riau Airlines.

"When the money is sufficient, flights in Riau will come true," he said.(03)