Sempati Air opens new route

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)