Sempati Air opens new route

JAKARTA (JP): Sempati Air has opened a new route from South Sulawesi's capital of Ujungpandang to Batam via Surabaya, East Java, to meet the increasing number of passengers.

Darwin Damoerin, Sempati's district general manager for Surabaya, was quoted by Antara as saying in Batam over the weekend that the airline started serving the new route last Friday with a Fokker-100.

"The number of passengers from Ujungpandang and Surabaya to Batam is increasing," he said.

But he said that cheap electronics have apparently become a factor attracting passengers to the island, which is very close to Singapore.

Besides, Indonesians are required to pay an exit tax of only Rp 100,000 (US$43.29) if they leave the country for Singapore through Batam by sea, as compared to Rp 250,000 by plane.

Sempati is 40 percent owned by Asian Aviation, a Malaysian- Indonesian joint venture, 25 percent by Tri Usaha Bhakti, a holding company of the Indonesian Armed Forces, 20 percent by timber tycoon Mohammad "Bob" Hasan and 15 percent by the Humpuss Group -- controlled by President Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra. (13)