SilkAir serves S'pore-Solo

SilkAir serves S'pore-Solo

YOGYAKARTA (JP): SilkAir, one of two Singaporean airlines, has
started service linking the island republic and Solo in Central
Java with Boeing 737 aircraft.

"The new service is meant to introduce the Singaporean market
to new destinations and this year we consider Solo as a new
destination for scheduled service," the carrier's commercial
manager, Balbir Singh, told reporters here over the weekend.

He said that for the time being, SilkAir operates five
services every Thursday on a chartered basis. "But we will serve
regular flights early next year when we are ready," he said.

Indonesia and Singapore signed in September an agreement
allowing Singapore Airlines and SilkAir to fly directly to nine
more cities in Indonesia. The two airlines so far serve 10
Indonesian cities -- Denpasar, Medan, Surabaya, Manado, Padang,
Pekanbaru, Pontianak, Ambon, Biak and Jakarta.

The two Singaporean airlines will firstly require only three
additional cities -- Solo, Mataram in West Nusa Tenggara and
Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi.

Indonesia, in turn, will be allowed to assign two more
airlines, Mandala and Bouraq, to transport passengers between the
two countries, in addition to the three airlines, Garuda, Merpati
and Sempati, which currently hold those routes.(mun/icn)