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)