Amsterdam route plan still on: Garuda

Andi Haswidi, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

Garuda Indonesia plans to revive its Jakarta-Amsterdam route as soon as the European Commission (EC) lifts its ban on Indonesian airlines flying to the continent, hopefully later this year, the company's top executive says.

Garuda president director Emir Syah Satar said Wednesday that the government was hopeful that after the lifting of the ban, the national flag carrier would quickly revive the service, which was discontinued in 2004 for financial reasons.

"We are also planning to add new routes to Japan and India," Emir told the press on the first day of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Mart, which was officially opened by Vice President Jusuf Kalla .

Emir said that as Garuda had recently passed an International Air Transport Association (IATA) safety audit, the EC had no more grounds for barring it.

He said that the EC was expected to lift the ban by not later than November of this year.

"We had a discussion with the transportation minister and the vice president this morning. He said that there will be a decision on the ban in November," Emir said.

The EC imposed the ban in June, barring all Indonesian airlines from flying to the 27-nation bloc after a series of aircraft accidents at home.

At the beginning of this month a special team was dispatched to Brussels, Belgium, to lobby the relevant commission committee. Upon returning, the head of the team, Cheppy Hakim, said that the committee would put the matter to a vote some time this month.

Also present during the discussions with the minister, PATA president and CEO Peter de Jong said that there would be a review of the EC's policy on Indonesian airlines.

"Let it be known by the European authorities that the flight ban is an unfair measure. For those who don't know, the problem arises when tour operators cannot get insurance for their clients," Jong said.

"It has jeopardized tourism, not only in Bali, but also in other travel destinations in the country. The good news is that we expect a new development in the next 8 weeks or so," he concluded.

Earlier, Jong had said that despite the ban on Indonesian carriers, the attendance of European delegates at the PATA Travel Mart 2007 had not been affected.

"PACTO, which organizes pre and post tours, has not received any cancellations. The time for a show in Bali is, in fact, perfect as the destination has been in full recovery since the beginning of the year," he said as quoted by Travel Weekly on Wednesday.

According to Garuda's Emir, after passing the IATA safety audit (IOSA), Garuda needed no other certification.

Aside from improving its safety and maintenance procedures, Emir said Garuda would also continue to invest in new aircraft. He revealed that Garuda was considering buying 25 Boeing 737-800 aircraft next year, and hoped to have 10 Boeing Dreamliners in operation by 2011.

"Airbus has also offered us 20 of their 320 series." Emir said.

After years of suffering losses, Garuda reported a profit of Rp 148 billion (about US$15.9 million) in the first semester of this year, as compared to a net loss of about Rp 361 billion during the same period last year.