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)