Up to 7 Flights a Day Permitted to SIA Under Liberalized Air Access Between Singapore and Bali.
(5/18/2008) Bisnis Indonesia confirms that the Department of Transportation is increasing from three to seven the number of daily flights Singapore Airlines (SIA) will be allowed to operate between Denpasar (Bali) and Singapore.
The Director of Civil Aviation at the Department of Transportation, Tri S. Sunoko, told the press that the permission for additional flights is temporary in nature and has been granted on an ad hoc basis in connection with the current high passenger demand during Visit Indonesia Year 2008 promotion. Sunoko also cautioned that the extra flights were being granted to SIA on the understanding that the additional flights must be flown with some degree of cooperation with Indonesian airlines, such a joint operations or code-sharing to permit joint marketing with Garuda Indonesia.
Before the new flights can be operated, the Department of Transportation must receive a formal request from the Department of Culture and Tourism specifying the number of additional flights requested, the number of passenger seats involved and the type of aircraft that will be utilized.
Additional Flights Pushed by Vice-President
The long-awaited liberalization of air traffic rights for SIA between Denpasar and Singapore comes following strong urgings from Indonesia's Vice-President Jusuf Kalla and the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The move to grant more flights to SIA has also received the endorsement of the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA) whose Chairman, Tengku Burhanudin, said the code-sharing requirement would ensure both Indonesia and Singapore profit from the new policy.
A spokesperson for SIA in Jakarta said the Airline welcomes the new policy, although they had yet to receive a formal confirmation of the permission for more flights from the Government. Under the liberalized flight policy, SIA has the potential of carrying 13,000 passengers each week between Singapore and Bali, a doubling from their current capacity of 6,500 passengers.
Because of SIA’s extensive world-wide marketing and flight route network, the liberalized flight policy will provide Bali with wide access to markets in Europe, Russia, South Africa and the United States.
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