GARUDA INDONESIA target in 2015

Garuda Indonesia is targeting 35.2 million passengers in 2015.

Emirsyah Satar, president director of PT Garuda Indonesia, said that Indonesia's economy is getting better so that the target would be overtaken. "Target will also need the support infrastructure, such as access to the airport by road and train," he said.

Meanwhile, Garuda Indonesia passenger target this year reached as many as 17 million passengers. Target passengers as much as it is included with the passengers from Citilink.

In order for an aircraft passenger comfort stay awake, PT Angkasa Pura II is currently reviewing the development of Soekarno Hatta airport. "There are land acquisition to expand the Soekarno Hatta Airport," said Tri Sunoko President Director of PT Angkasa Pura II.

Land acquisition is estimated according to the Tri require a land area of ​​830 ha. and expected to require an investment cost of IDR 6-7 trillion. This land acquisition for airport expansion is predicted to be completed in 2014.

Meanwhile, now there are several parties interested in being an investor. "Among these are Airport GMR,GVK Group, Incheon International Airport," said Tri. [Garuda Indonesia target in 2015]

picture: google.com

Four AIRPORTS will be added time to 24 hours of nonstop operation

PT Angkasa Pura (AP) II will add hours of operation of four airports up to 24.00 hours. The four airports are Minangkabau International Airport in Padang, the International Airport of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II in Palembang, Sultan Sharif Kasim II Airport in Pekanbaru and Supadio Airport, Pontianak.

Tri S. Sunoko, Angkasa Pura II president director, said, adding hours of airport operation carried out in line with the increasing flow of passengers and air cargo. So far this airport only operates until around 20:00 pm.

Currently there are two airports that are managed by Aangkasa Pura II which operate until 24.00 pm, the Soekarno-Hatta airport Cengkareng, Jakarta and Polonia airport in Medan. Consequently, there are a number of passengers from Jakarta or other cities that could not continue the flight to the destination city.

Looking ahead, additional hours of operation will continue until the airport can be open for 24 hours. But the Angkasa Pura II will perform in stages according to their ability and readiness of existing human resources. Therefore, the current AP II are still experiencing power shortages Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) to regulate air traffic at airports.

Angkasa Pura II data mentioned, there are currently 600 people ATC personnel at all airports managed by AP II. Being the ideal amount of ATC personnel need more 172 people. The amount that will be pursued the addition of ATC, in cooperation with Human Resources Development Agency of Transportation.

"We are targeting the needs of the ATC that was to be met in April 2012. So the four airports that we can prioritize operate for 24 hours, "said Tri.

Bambang S. Ervan, Head of Public Communication Center Ministry of Transportation, adding, starting the first semester of 2012, there are six airports are expected under AP II, which can operate 24 hours. "Looking ahead, expect all the major cities can be served aviation for 24 hours a day.

Bobby Mamahit, Head of Human Resources Development Ministry of Transportation, adding, the ability to pass the ATC is still limited. ATC graduates this year as many as 200 people ATC, but ATC requirement for all airports in Indonesia as many as 800 people per year.

"To still increase the capacity of graduates each year, one of them by adding new facilities and capacity at the school boarding the flight," said Bobby.

INDONESIAN Chamber of Commerce seeks delay in strict AIR CARGO screening

THE Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called for further six-month postponement of a new cargo inspection process at international airports, saying lack of infrastructure and manpower will cause bottlenecks, reports the Jakarta Globe.

Ahead of the planned commencement of the cargo inspection process next week, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Suryo Bambang Sulisto said companies were not ready.

"There are only four cargo inspection agents handling 900 tons of merchandise per day. This will cause bottlenecks in airports, not to mention additional fees," said Mr Sulisto.

The regulation, designed to improve security surveillance at the urging of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, was first implemented in July at Soekarno Hatta International Airport. Packages are to be inspected individually, incurring an additional fee of 10 to 14 times the normal rate of IDR60 (US$0.007) per kilogramme.

When the system was implemented, chaos immediately ensued. A long backlog developed of cargo waiting for inspection, prompting cargo forwarding companies to strike, said the report.

Hundreds of tons of cargo, including newspapers, medicines and even human remains awaiting repatriation were stranded, incurring losses estimated in the billions of rupiah.

Hundreds of workers staged a one-day rally to protest the regulation that stipulated that only three companies - Duta Angkasa Prima Kargo, Gita Afian Trans and Fajar Anugerah Sejahtera - would be responsible for security screening of cargo shipments.

source; Shippingazette.com / picture: google.com

INDONESIA AirAsia international flight move to Terminal 3

Planning of Indonesia AirAsia (IAA) to bring together domestic and international flights in Terminal 3 of Soekarno Hatta Airport closer to reality. In the near term, PT Angkasa Pura (AP) II will provide a license to use the terminal 3 for the entire flight operation of IAA.

"Beginning next September we have been granted permission to IndonesiaAirAsia to operate in the terminal 3. Later planned to co-exist with other airlines such as Wings Air and Mandala Airlines that still wanted to fly," said Managing Director of AP II, Tri S Sunoko in Jakarta.

Director of operations and Techniques AP II, Salahuddin Rafi said, IAA international flight operations transfers made ​​to reduce the burden of international flights at the terminal 2 which is quite high. "International flight of Indonesia AirAsia is not much. But at least to reduce the existing burden, and could facilitate the IAA itself," said Rafi.

According to him, the capacity of Terminal 3 have been yet used to the maximum is 4 million passengers. In 2010 only 1.9 million passengers traveled by. Now estimated to be reduced, because Mandala Airlines no longer in operation. "Therefore, we provide international flights of Indonesia AirAsia to terminal 3, to be maximum," he said.

Next year, he explained, it is estimated there will be many more airlines are using the terminal 3 of Soekarno Hatta Airport, due to capacity will increase to 25 million passengers per year.

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Garuda Indonesia needs special terminal

The airline company which has the second largest number of passengers in Indonesia, Garuda Indonesia, needs a special terminal at the terminal of Soekarno-Hatta (Soetta), Jakarta. The terminal is to anticipate the development of the airline business is expected to increase almost doubled in 2014 later.

In the year 2009, the total number of passengers carried by Garuda Indonesia more than 10 million people.

According to President Director of Garuda Indonesia, Emirsah Sattar, currently Garuda Indonesia already operates 74 aircrafts and by 2014 its fleet will increase to 116 units. Garuda Indonesia also has selected Jakarta as a base of operations. "We need a dedicated terminal for us," said the Emir in Jakarta. Nevertheless he was evasive that Garuda Indonesia is also required to participate to build its own terminal at the Soekarno Hatta airport. "Too much for it," said Emir.

For time being, Garuda Indonesia has formed a team to advise the Board of Directors. Angkasa Pura II as the organizer of Soekarno-Hatta airport.

As is known, PT. Angkasa Pura II will create a grand new design for the Soekarno Hatta airport. Grand design is expected to be completed later this year and will be implemented next year. Indonesia Minister of State Owned Entreprises, Mustafa Abubakar also have to allow private parties to participate in developing and managing Soekarno Hatta airport. Some news said, Schipol airport management (Netherland), Changi airport management (Singapore) and the airline Air Asia Group is interested in developing the biggest airports in Indonesia.

Picture:google.com

4 of 12 Indonesia airports excess capacity

Aviation industry and the number of passenger planes in Indonesia continues to grow significantly even beyond the capacity of existing airports. According to PT Angkasa Pura II (Persero) or AP II, four of the twelve airports under its management have excess capacity. According to Director of AP II Tri S Sunoko the four airports which excess the capacity are Soekarno-Hatta Cengkareng - Jakarta, Polonia - Medan, Sultan Thana - Syafiuddin Jambi and Minangkabau Airport - Padang.

Polonia Airport in Medan, North Sumatera with a capacity of 900 000 passengers, are now serving 4.9 million passengers per year. Then Sultan Thana which has a capacity of 700 000 passengers have 900,000 passengers per year. While the Minangkabau Airport has served 2.8 million passengers per year, while its capacity is only 1.2 million passengers. "While the Soekarno-Hatta airport has a capacity of 22 million passengers have been serving 37 million passengers in 2009. That's why we will continue to increase the capacity by build a new airport terminal," said Tri.

The airport development projects and the construction of the new airport is ready to be done is Polonia Airport, which will be replaced with Kualanamu Airport. In the next two years, the airport is ready for use.

Last year, Lion Air has the domestic passengers at most 13.3 million (30.7%), Garuda Indonesia, as many as 8.39 million (19.28%), followed by Batavia Air around 6.10 million (14.02%) . While for the international route, most dominant is Garuda Indoensia Airlines with transporting 2.21 million (44.74%), followed by Indonesia AirAsia 1.98 million (40.09%), and the third position Lion Air around 383 584 passengers (7.74%).

Indonesia AirAsia denies bankruptcy rumor

Audrey Progastama P, Manager of Corporate Communication of Indonesia AirAsia, confirms that Indonesia AirAsia is not in a position to go bankrupt. Although Jakarta - Surabaya and Jakarta – Medan route are closed as per October 1, 2010. "We want to clear the information that is now circulating in the community about Indonesia AirAsia," said Audrey, Tuesday (08/03/2010) in Jakarta.

Audrey asserted, the closure of two routes was linked with changes in business strategy of Indonesia AirAsia. "Our focus this year is on the development of international air routes, rather than domestic routes. Therefore, the aircraft which was originally used for the two routes were transferred to route Surabaya - Singapore, Surabaya - Bangkok, Surabaya - Kuala Lumpur, Medan-Singapore, Medan - Kuala Lumpur, and Medan-Hongkong/Macau, "said Audrey.

Audrey also said, is not true that the tickets were already booked is non-refundable. "Passengers who had bought tickets could refundable. However, it depends on the payment method used. If passengers use credit cards, so our costs have been incurred to return as well as through credit cards," he said. Meanwhile, if a passenger using a debit payment system, then the money is returned through the passenger bank account. Similarly, if passengers pay cash at one of the sales counter, the passenger will receive cash.

Passengers can also choose a refund in the form of a credit shell, that is, credit is added to the respective accounts AirAsia passengers. Furthermore, these funds can be used to purchase another AirAsia flight ticket.

Audrey added that Indonesia AirAsia's performance in the second quarter of 2010 was very positive. Its load factor reached 75 percent with the number of passengers as many as 947 786 people or an increase of 9.8 percent compared with same period last year.

Two airlines companies are reluctant to shift to Terminal 1C

Two airlines companies which placed in Terminal 1A Soekarno-Hatta International Airport are reluctant to shift to Terminal 1C. They even admitted not knowing the shift instruction flight activity center officially. Lion Air General Director Edward Sirait not know the concept of the transfer. So far, negotiations are still limited to plan an informal conversation. "Officially, we just do not know," he said in Jakarta. Therefore, he considered the proposed transfer of carriers into the new terminal through the revitalization of Rp20 billion it should be designed with a clear order not to cause new problems."If it was offered right concept we are ready to move," he said.

However, he argued, if Lion Air is required to break the flight activity at the two terminals, PT Angkasa Pura II should provide compensation. Because the activity in the two terminals will increase operational costs. "We did not refuse. But if we're in a two-terminal, would increase costs because we have to add new workers. Not to mention the other extra for wearing the two places. So, it seems there must be compensation," Edward Sirait explained.

Public Relations Manager of Batavia Air, Eddy Haryanto said, moving to Terminal 1C is still considered as a discourse for the national carrier. Because the removal of all the airline's previous activities Terminal 1A inhabiting it would require huge funds. "That still discourse because the funds needed is enormous. For the mass transfer of the funds it needs I do not know," he explained.

The two airlines is planned to be shifted to Terminal 1C in March 2010. Transfer of flights transporting activity was carried out because of denseness carry passengers at Terminal 1A."We have negotiated with Batavia Air. We also have to negotiate with Lion Air. They were willing to move to terminal C. I hope the process is completed next month," said Executive General Manager of PT Angkasa Pura II (Persero) Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Hariyanto.

Flight Frequency to Jeddah 35 times per week

Currently the frequency of flights from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia, especially King Abdul Aziz Airport, Jeddah  already 35 times per week to anticipate the demand of passengers.
"We propose to added the frequency of flight. Before only 21 times per week. As was approved now become 35 times per week to Jeddah," said Director General of Civil Aviation Ministry of Transport Herry Bhakti S Gumay, in Jakarta.
Herry explained, the regulator always facilitate the airline company request who want to fly and add flights to other countries, including international routes to Jeddah.
"Of the total permits, the regulator share the service, among others airline companies. Now Lion Air has allocated five times per week, Garuda Indonesia 11 times and Batavia Air has three times per week," he said.
However, the interest in this international routes are still the three airlines companies Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air and Batavia Air.
Herry also said that other international routes in the Middle East, is currently rampant growth as shown much of the region's airlines are flying to Indonesia.
"If they fly over here, in fact, Indonesian airlines may also fly there. This is the principle of reciprocal," he said.
Some airlines already flying to Indonesia such as Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and other airlines from Dubai and other cities such as Abu Dhabi.