Emirates to fly twice daily from Jakarta

Nani Afrida and Novan Iman Santosa

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based airline Emirates is set to launch twice daily flights from Jakarta to Dubai starting March 1.

"The launch of the double daily flight between Jakarta and Dubai is Emirates' response to increasing demand from both business and leisure travelers," Emirates' Indonesia country manager Mohamed Al Nahari said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Al Nahari said in 2009 the airlines flew the route 11 times a week.

He said the additional flights would increase capacity by more than 2,600 seats per week, to bring weekly capacity up to 12,000 seats.

Using Boeing the 777 jetliner, Emirates has 42 business-class seats and 385 to 400 economy-class seats depending on aircraft type.

Emirates flights EK 356 and EK 358 depart Dubai at 4:40 a.m. and 10:25 a.m. respectively. Flights EK 357 and EK 359 leave Jakarta at 5:45 p.m. and 12:15 a.m. respectively.

Emirates sales manager Ilonka Leiwakabessy said the airline was aiming to serve a new corporate travel market in addition to haj and umrah (minor haj) pilgrims.

"Corporate travelers are independent of events like pilgrimages. They can depart at any time," she said.

She said there was sales growth in 2009 without giving any figures.

Al Nahari said Emirates' double daily flight would support government plans to increase arrivals from Middle Eastern countries by up to 100,000 in 2010.

"We are delighted to be able to provide our passengers with a greater choice of flight options," he said.

Emirates will start four new routes including to Tokyo on March 28, Amsterdam on May 1, Prague on July 1 and Madrid on Aug. 1.

In the financial year ending Sept. 30, 2009, Emirates booked US$205 million in net profits.

Emirates announced Tuesday the appointment of PT VFS Services Indonesia, to set up a Dubai visa application and processing Center (DVPC), effective since January 2010.

"The partnership will offer benefits to our passengers who require a visa to enter Dubai. The passengers will get Dubai visas within a short time period of three to four working days," Al Nahari said.

"Passengers who use this service are not required to have local sponsors while staying in Dubai."

VFS head of operations Southeast Asia Bernard Vijaykumar said that the firm would be able to handle about 800 applicants a day.

"Visa applicants only need to submit copies of their passports with their documents and not the original ones," he said.

"This will allow applicants to apply for visas to other countries requiring original passports."

First published on The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010

Wings Air to expand network in western Indonesia

Novan Iman Santosa

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Regional airline Wings Air aims to expand its network in western Indonesia after opening new routes in the central and eastern part of the country recently.

“We will open new short routes in western Indonesia to lead the market in the next two year,” Wings Air director of general affairs Edward Sirait said Friday as reported by Antara news agency.

He said this would be made possible with the delivery by 2011 of 15 Franco-Italian ATR 72-500 twin turboprops out of a total order of 30 new aircraft.

Currently Wings Air operates one ATR 72-500 in western Indonesia with two others being
operated in the eastern and central parts of the country.

Wings Air also operates 2 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft and 5 Boeing MD-80 aircraft.

The airline, a fully owned subsidiary of privately run Lion Air, started to serve the route linking Bandung in West Java with Yogyakarta on Friday, it said in a press statement issued Saturday.

During the opening ceremony at the Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, Wings Air also launched another route linking Yogyakarta with Surabaya in East Java.

Two other routes, linking Surabaya with Semarang in Central Java and Denpasar in Bali, were
also launched although these two routes started operation on Thursday.

Wings Air flight IW 1811 leaves Adisutjipto Airport in Yogyakarta at 12:05 P.M. and arrives in Husein Sastranegara Airport at 1:05 P.M. The aircraft returns to Yogyakarta as flight IW 1812 departing at 1:30 P.M. and arriving at 2:30 P.M.

The Bandung-Yogyakarta route has a one-way airfare of Rp 290,000 (US$31.16), said Wings Air director of general affairs Edward Sirait.

He said starting Saturday the aircraft with a capacity of 72 passengers would have a daily route of Semarang-Surabaya-Denpasar-Surabaya-Yogyakarta-Bandung-Yogyakarta-Surabaya- Denpasar-Surabaya-Semarang.

Edward was confident that the use of the Bandung-Yogyakarta sector would grow significantly.

“Both cities are known not only as business cities but also student cities and destinations for culinary tourism,” Edward told Antara news agency.

As for new routes, Edward said the airlines planned to link Bali with Labuan Bajo and Maumere in East Nusa Tenggara and Bima in West Nusa Tenggara.

Wings Air also plans to link the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan with Sibolga, in North Sumatra, and Lhokseumawe in Aceh.

Other new routes would include linking Medan with the secondary town of Gunungsitoli and Nias as well as Meulaboh in Aceh, and the Padang-Bengkulu route.

First published on The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010

GMF secures contracts from Singapore Airshow

Novan Iman Santosa

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company PT GMF AeroAsia signed three contracts as a result of its participation at the Singapore Airshow earlier this month, the company said in a media release acquired by The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The contracts and deals under negotiation represent business opportunities worth $56.75 million.

GMF general marketing manager Sandi Yuliawan said the deals include a contract extension with cargo airline Cardig Air for maintenance services for its Boeing B737F.

“The contract is worth $4 million and without a time limit,” Sandi said in the release.

GMF, a subsidiary of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, also signed maintenance cooperation contracts with the Indonesian Air Force and joint partnership deals with Aircelle and Triumph.

The cooperation with Aircelle worth $11 million, is for inspection, repair, overhaul and replacement work on the thrust reverser systems that equip Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines for Garuda’s fleet of Airbus A330 jetliners, Aircelle said in its web site.

“The 26-month agreement will ensure that thrust reversers used on Garuda A330s are up to the latest operational standards,” said Aircelle, which makes engine nacelles.

As for Triumph, GMF, will maintain the GTCP 131-9B auxiliary power units (APUs) of the Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft.

GMF was also in negotiation with Sriwijaya Air to maintain its fleet of eight Boeing 737 Classic, with Max Air of Nigeria for the maintenance of its six Boeing 747 wide body aircraft, and with Chinese Airlines for technical handling during line maintenance at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport.

GMF was the only Indonesian company taking part in the air show although two charter airlines showcased some of their aircraft at static displays on behalf of the aircraft manufacturers.

Premiair showcased its Brazilian Embraer Legacy 600 business jet while Susi Air showed its Anglo-Italian AgustaWestland AW109S Grand helicopter, the American Cessna 208 Caravan and the Italian Piaggio Avanti II aircraft.

First published on The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010

Garuda plans to develop secondary hubs, adds more routes

Novan Iman Santosa

The Jakarta Post, Singapore

Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia plans to develop secondary hubs in Indonesian major cities in addition to its major hubs in Jakarta and Denpasar as part of its Quantum Leap program.

The secondary hubs would include cities such as Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, Medan in North Sumatra, Surabaya in East Java and Makassar in South Sulawesi, Garuda’s president director Emirsyah Satar said Wednesday.

Speaking at the Singapore Airshow in Changi, he said the secondary hubs were to generate local or feeder traffic as part of Garuda’s efforts to expand new routes to strengthen its domestic network.

Other efforts include feeds to and from international routes, and domestic hub by-pass routes for mature markets, such as the Medan-Surabaya route, without stopping over in Jakarta.

“We also plan to develop flights from all provincial capitals to Jakarta,” he told reporters.

Garuda is aiming to increase the frequency of flights covering existing high density networks.

Emirsyah said the Indonesian domestic market still had room to grow in the world’s largest archipelago with some 230 million people.

“The domestic market is about 40 million passengers so there is still plenty of room to grow,” he said.

“Especially now that we have regional autonomy in which each region has more freedom to handle its own affairs.”

Garuda recorded 1,333 departures per week in 2008 and aims for 2,702 departures per week by 2014.

On international routes, Garuda had 338 departures in 2008 and plans for 1,222 per week in 2014.

Emirsyah said the airline plans to expand routes to include Hong Kong, India and ASEAN countries as well as opening European and American routes.

Garuda will fly to Amsterdam as of June 1 with other cities being considered, including Frankfurt, London and Paris as well as Los Angeles.

Emirsyah said Garuda would still focus on the Asia Pacific region saying it was where the economic activities were taking place nowadays.

Emirsyah also said Garuda was pursuing full membership of global airline alliance arrangements.

“We have support from KLM and Korean Air for membership of the SkyTeam alliance,” he said.

Garuda also aims to increase its fleet of aircraft from 54 in 2008 to 116 by 2014.

The airline will use Boeing 737-800 New Generation for domestic and regional routes, Airbus 330-200/300 for medium-haul and Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft for long haul routes.

First published on The Jakarta Post on Friday, Feb. 5, 2010

Garuda, IATA sign MoU on carbon emission cuts

Novan Iman Santosa

The Jakarta Post, Singapore

Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia signed Tuesday an MoU on reducing carbon emissions in the aviation sector with the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The MoU on carbon offset was signed by Garuda president director Emirsyah Satar and IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani at IATA’s Green Pavilion on the first day of the 2010 Singapore Airshow at the Changi Convention Center.

Emirsyah said the MoU would enable passengers to decide whether or not to pay to cover their own the carbon footprint for their flight when booking online on the Garuda website. Once fully implemented, the program would allow passengers to calculate the compensation required, the volume of reduced CO2 emissions needed and available emission reduction activities.

Emirsyah said the airline and IATA had been talking on the carbon offset program since mid-2009. “Garuda is the 15th airlines to participate in the initiative,” he said.

IATA’s carbon offset program is a ready-to-use software which airlines can offer to their passengers to compensate for carbon emissions by contributing to carbon reduction projects in developing countries.

Bisignani said aviation contributes about 2 percent of total carbon emissions but IATA and the aviation sector in general were taking the issue seriously.

“It is not only IATA and airlines but also aircraft producers and engine makers who are working together to reduce emissions,” he told reporters after signing the MoU. He said there was a reduction of 7 percent of carbon emission in the aviation sector through various efforts in 2009.

Meanwhile, Garuda vice president for safety, security, and environment Capt. Novianto Heru Pratomo said the airline would work with IATA to find appropriate projects for the carbon offset initiative. He said Garuda previously had reforested some 250 hectares of forest in the Sebangau National Park in Central Kalimantan and another 250 hectares along the Arakundo River water basin in Aceh.

When asked whether Garuda would soon use biodiesel for its aircraft, Novianto said the use of biodiesel for commercial airlines was still at a trial stage.

Novianto explained that Garuda is modernizing aircraft cabins in its new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. All seats in both Executive and Economy Classes are being equipped with individual in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems.

Boeing senior vice president East and Southeast Asia sales, commercial airplanes, Robert K. Laird, claimed to reporters that Garuda is the only airline to equip all its Boeing 737 aircraft with IFE systems for all seats.

Laird said that was the reason why Boeing asked Garuda to display one its latest aircraft to represent Boeing’s commercial product in Singapore. Garuda officials said the new 737-800 is already operational in the Garuda fleet.

First published on The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010