Sigma Alliance to cooperate with Silk Air

JAKARTA (JP): A newly formed alliance of domestic airlines -- Sigma Alliance -- said that it was looking into the possibility of cooperating with Silk Air, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, to complement its network in the country and abroad.

Mandala Airlines president Gunawan Koswara said on Thursday that there was no need for the alliance to physically expand abroad, rather it would "synergize" with foreign airlines to provide services.

"We will look into the possibility with Silk Air, we'll see what happens, but that interest must be expressed," he said on the sidelines of a ceremony launching the Sigma Alliance.

He did not provide details.

Sigma Alliance comprises four domestic airlines, namely Mandala Airlines, Pelita Air Service, Bouraq Airlines and Dirgantara Air Service (DAS).

The alliance was initiated by Mandala and Pelita in May to cope with mounting competition from other domestic airlines.

For the benefit of passengers, Gunawan said that it will give greater choice of flights, schedules and destinations, as an alliance meant that passengers on one airline could change or utilize other airlines in the partnership to reach their destination.

"We are currently working on a reservation system which would be able to serve multiple destination tickets," he said, explaining that the airlines complement each others' routes.

DAS provides short length flights to remote cities in Kalimantan, while Pelita flies to Jakarta, Makassar-South Sulawesi, Sorong-Irian Jaya, Yogyakarta, Pontianak-West Kalimantan, Pangkal Pinang-South Sumatra, Jambi, Surabaya-East Java and Kendari-Southeast Sulawesi.

Mandala flies to 16 major cities in Indonesia, while Bouraq flies Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar-Bali, Manado-North Sulawesi, Balikpapan-East Kalimantan, Banjarmasin-South Kalimantan and Batam-Riau.

"So now, passengers from a remote town in Kalimantan could get a DAS flight to a major city and connecting flights to Jakarta by either Mandala, Pelita, or Bouraq with only one reservation procedure," Gunawan said.

He said that the alliance would be very careful so as not to create an unfair business atmosphere by not restricting their passengers choice of flights and by ensuring that prices were still competitive.

"To that aim we have decided to use a clearing bank to settle the differences in our ticket prices," Pelita's president Soeratman said, without elaborating.(tnt)