Trigana airline survives rough conditions of Papua

Its harsh geographical conditions -- full of mountains and dense forests -- means that Papua province is heavily reliant on air transportation. However, the same geographical conditions, plus unpredictable weather, also make it less than ideal for flying, posing serious challenges to surviving airlines. The Jakarta Post's Nethy Dharma Somba looks into the mater and filed the following report.

One by one, airline companies in Papua are going out of business -- some due to the loss of their planes in crashes, but most simply unable to cover their costs.

Air Regional, a joint venture with the Puncak Jaya regental administration, stopped operating several years ago after losing three of its aircraft in crashes. Air Mark, a Russian airline company working together with the Jayawijaya regental administration, stopped serving the Jayapura-Wamena route after incurring heavy losses.

The only private airline company still surviving in Jayapura now is PT Trigana Air Service.

Relying on its fleet of nine aircraft, Trigana, which has been operating since 1973 in Papua, has dominated the northern and central parts of the province, while the southern part is controlled by Merpati Airlines.

Its two Fokker F27s serve the Jayapura-Wamena route, two Caribous have their base of operations in Sentani and Nabire, three Twin Otters in Sentani, Nabire and Sorong respectively, and an ATR 72 in Sentani.

The people of Papua have relied on this airline company as their main choice for air transportation to remote areas.

Trigana Air started operating in Papua in 1973, when it was first assigned by the U.S.-owned mining company PT Freeport to transport supplies from Timika to Panaia, Sugapa.

"We noticed the potential, and from then on we were determined to start the airline business in Papua," said Triguna's Jayapura branch manager, Bustomi Eka Prayitno.

So why is Trigana still going in Papua, even though massive amounts of funds are needed to stay afloat?

Bustomi related that from the beginning, the company did not just seek profits, but also worked on building a reliable image, such as grounding an airplane due to bad weather or when the pilot felt that flying was unsafe, even if the plane was full of passengers.

"We have never carried things or people beyond the plane's load capacity because experience has shown that accidents usually happen due to planes' overload factor," he said.

According to Bustomi, the public as well as government officials and business people in Papua have recognized the reputation the company has built up over years.

Its reputation, gained from the trust from the people of Papua, has shown results. The company has been entrusted by the local logistics agency to transport rice for civil servants from Jayapura to remote areas since 1993. It won a Pertamina tender to carry fuel from Jayapura to Wamena, and it has been assigned by the Irian Bhakti trading company to transport rice-for-the-poor supplies to the mountainous regions in central Papua.

"We have a fixed job of transporting rice, fuel and basic necessities to remote areas. Carrying people is an additional job for us," he explained.

Trigana is also trusted by traders to transport their merchandise. Bustomi expressed praise for small-scale traders who had to charter his planes to carry basic necessities to outlying areas. "The freight tariffs are high, but the traders are bold enough to take the chance and trust Trigana to dispatch their goods," he said.

Trigana charges Rp 18,000 (US$1.80) for a kilogram for freight, while it costs $1,400 an hour to charter a plane.

Although Trigana relies on its cargo planes for carrying freight, it also serves passengers on the Jayapura-Wamena route.

"We can fly five times a day from Jayapura to Wamena, depending on the weather," said Bustomi.

Trigana is not only used by local passengers, but also by foreign tourists, who charter the plane for excursions into the province's hinterlands.

"We usually get three charter orders from tourists in a month, and even more in certain months, like August, when many tourists visit Wamena for the Baliem Valley Festival. Many tourists from Japan visit the Japanese war memorial in Sarmi twice a year," he explained.

The only scheduled flight serving Jayapura-Wamena is by Trigana. Merpati Airlines served the route previously, but stopped running it in 2004.

Trigana has 80 employees in several towns; Sentani, Wamena, Nabire, Biak and Sorong.

"Before working in Papua, pilots are briefed about the geographical and natural conditions of the areas in which they will operate. They will be transferred to other areas once every three weeks, so it's understandable that most of them know the region by heart," said Bustomi.