SilkAir suspends Singapore-Jakarta route

SilkAir suspends Singapore-Jakarta route

JAKARTA (JP): SilkAir announced on Friday it would suspend its
12-time weekly scheduled services linking Singapore to Jakarta
starting July 26 due to a decline in passengers.

SilkAir's General Manager Mak Swee Wah said the decision was
made following the airline's network review conducted in light of
the economic crisis in the region.

"Traffic between Singapore and Jakarta has declined
significantly over the past year and the present capacity on the
route is more than adequate at present.

"The route is well-served by our parent company, Singapore
Airlines, which offers a seven-time daily service. We felt that
it would be better for us to focus our attention on other
Indonesian services," he said in a statement.

He did not give further details on the decline in the load
factor.

Mak said Indonesia remained a vital part of SilkAir's network
and the company would continue flying to eight other destinations
in Indonesia, namely Medan, Menado, Pekanbaru, Padang, Solo,
Ujung Pandang, Balikpapan and Lombok.

"We will continue to develop and promote traffic to these
destinations," he added.

SilkAir currently flies the Singapore-Medan route 10 times a
week, Singapore-Pekanbaru seven times, Singapore-Lombok five
times and Singapore-Menado twice.

Mak also said SilkAir would ensure all passengers who had
booked and ticketed travel on the suspended flights between
Singapore and Jakarta beyond July 25 would be transferred to
either Singapore Airlines or another airline.

"We will ensure the passengers of flights beyond 25 July will
be transferred with a minimum of inconvenience to them," he
said.(gis)