Three local airlines stop flights to Yogyakarta

Three local airlines stop flights to Yogyakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Three local privately owned airlines -- Sempati,
Mandala and Bouraq -- have stopped flying to Yogyakarta in
response to declining number of passengers.

Soelaeman Soepriatna, head of the Yogyakarta branch of the
state port management company PT Angkasa Pura, was quoted by
Antara as saying that only two airlines, Garuda Indonesia and
Garuda subsidiary Merpati Airlines, continue to serve the city's
Adisoetjipto airport.

Garuda flies the Jakarta-Yogyakarta route and Merpati serves
the Yogyakarta-Surabaya route.

He said the monetary crisis, which hit the country in the
middle of last year, had dealt a severe blow to the country's
airlines.

Airlines have had to raise ticket prices and reduce the
frequency of flights in a bid to cope with decreasing number of
passengers.

The country's airlines raised flight tariffs by 35 percent in
January.

Soelaeman noted the number of arrivals at Adisoetjipto airport
had decreased drastically over the past two months due to the
increase in ticket prices.

Poernomo, Yogyakarta office spokesman for the state railway
company Perumka, said many people had switched from airlines to
the railway when traveling from Jakarta to Yogyakarta.

The number of executive-class passengers on the Jakarta-
Yogyakarta route had increased by 95 percent over the past two
months, he said.

"It's not easy to book executive-class railway tickets for the
Jakarta-Yogyakarta route due to the large number of passengers,"
he said.

The government has expressed concern over the country's ailing
airlines, pledging to subsidize their operations to enable them
to remain in business.

The director general of air transportation recently said
domestic airlines had reduced flights by 50 percent. Flights on
less profitable routes had been particularly badly affected.
(jsk)