Several airlines reschedule New Year's Eve flights

Several airlines reschedule New Year's Eve flights

By Christiani S.A. Tumelap

JAKARTA (JP): Several foreign airlines operating in Indonesia
have rescheduled or canceled their flights to and from or within
the country on New Year's Eve due to concerns on the possible
impact of the Y2K computer glitch.

Japan Airlines' sales manager for Indonesia, Shuichi Sakamoto,
said the carrier would reschedule its Jakarta services, which
departed slightly before midnight, in line with the airline's
policy not to fly in the midnight hours of Dec. 31 for safety
operation reasons.

"Disregard our readiness regarding Y2K problems, we should
keep safe operations. The departure time for flights on Dec. 31
to Tokyo and Osaka will be delayed until the early hours of Jan.
1," he told The Jakarta Post.

Japan Airlines flies daily from Jakarta to Tokyo and Osaka.

Y2K refers to problems computerized systems could face at the
turn of the century, when their two-digit year counters fail to
distinguish between 1900 and 2000.

The glitch may cause computers to shut down or fail to
function properly. Power supplies may falter, telephones and
transportation systems may stop operating and automated banking
transactions may fail.

Taiwan-based EVA Air said it would fly as usual to Taipei from
Jakarta or Denpasar on New Year's Eve but would suspend its
connecting flights between Denpasar and Surabaya as a
precautionary measure.

EVA Air's Jakarta branch assistant manager for passenger
section, Diana Mawarsari, told the Post, "We decided to suspend
the flights because we are not sure about the Y2K preparedness at
the respective airports."

She said the connecting flights between Denpasar and Surabaya
were among 34 worldwide flights canceled by the airline between
Dec. 30, 1999 and Jan. 1, 2000, in anticipation of a Y2K glitch.

EVA Air currently has seven direct flights a week departing
from Jakarta to Taipei and seven direct flights -- three of which
connect to Surabaya -- a week departing from Denpasar to Taipei.

Low demand

Some foreign airlines also decided to reschedule or cancel
their Jakarta service for the turn of the century, but attributed
their policies mainly on a lack of adequate seat demand, not the
Y2K dreads.

Australian air carrier Qantas will reschedule its flight from
Sydney to Jakarta en route to Singapore on Dec. 31.

Claire Hatton, the Indonesian manager for Qantas and British
Airways, said the flight would return to Sydney straight from
Singapore without stopping in Jakarta on the way back as it did
on the departure.

"We have only a few passengers to pick up in Jakarta on the
way back to Sydney. After all, not many people want to be stuck
on the airplane with possible strangers on the New Year's Eve.
They would rather be at parties with friends and relatives," she
said.

According to one of its Jakarta reservation staffers, KLM
Royal Dutch Airlines has decided to cancel its flights departing
and arriving in Jakarta on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 because of low
demands on the flights.

Royal Brunei is considering canceling its flights departing
Jakarta and Surabaya to Bandar Seri Begawan on Dec. 31 due to the
low demand on seats, a Jakarta reservation employee said.

She said the airline had only received 11 bookings for the
Dec. 31 flight, which actually has a 200-seat capacity.

She said the airline has no flight scheduled for Jan. 1.

Royal Brunei flies to Bandar Seri Begawan every Tuesday,
Thursday, Friday and Sunday from Jakarta; every Monday, Wednesday
and Friday from Surabaya, East Java; every Monday and Wednesday
from Denpasar, Bali; and every Thursday and Sunday from
Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

Y2K fears or lack of demand, however, seem not to be a plight
for some foreign airlines as they are keeping their end-of-year
services on schedule.

German Airlines Lufthansa is keeping its Jakarta service for
Jan. 1 on schedule. Lufthansa said it had not received any
instructions from headquarters on necessary Y2K actions, such as
rescheduling or canceling its flight departing Jakarta to
Frankfurt on the first day of 2000.

A worker at the airline's reservation office said bookings for
the Jan. 1 flight were full for economy seats, leaving only a
slight chance for passengers to book the few available seats in
business class and first class.

Lufthansa flies direct from Jakarta to Frankfurt every Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The Hong Kong-based air carrier Cathay Pacific is also keeping
its Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 flights from Jakarta to Singapore or Hong
Kong on schedule, with economy seating already fully booked.

A reservation staffer of the airline's Jakarta office,
however, said there was concern over Indonesian airports'
readiness of the Y2K problems that might later force the airline
to delay the departure time of its flights.

Another Asian air carrier, Korean Air, has no plan to cancel
its flights departing Jakarta to Seoul during the rollover date
to Jan. 1, 2000.

But, according to a staffer at its Jakarta reservation office,
it may consider rescheduling the departure time for its flight on
Jan. 1.

Korean Air, which flies from Jakarta to Seoul five times a
week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, does not
have a flight leaving or arriving in Jakarta on Dec. 31.