AdamAir to launch Bali-East Timor route in 2006

JAKARTA (AFP): Private Indonesian carrier
AdamAir plans to start flying 15 new routes in 2006, including one linking the resort island of Bali with East Timor, a company official said Monday.

"Although we do not know when it will be opened, we plan to start serving the Denpasar-Dili route sometime next year," the public relations official told AFP.

He said that the new route was one of 15 domestic and international routes that the carrier planned to launch next year.

Adam Air, he added, is expanding its fleet and by the end of 2005 expects to have a fleet of 25 Boeing 737s of different types.

The carrier, which began operating in December 2003 and bills itself as a boutique airline, now serves over 30 routes, including flights to Malaysia and Singapore.

***********

Hmmmm, ailing state-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines (MNA) will soon have a competitor to this somewhat lucrative route.

I was once told by a young Indonesian diplomat that the UN administration in East Timor once banned its officials to fly MNA for their trips to Bali due to "safety reasons" because MNA airplanes were considered not airworthy. So, the UN officials had to fly to Darwin in Australia (!)first then to the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali........ Very efficient, no?