Sriwijaya Air Proposes to Take Over Mandala Routes
9 July 2014 11:08 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Sriwijaya Air commercial director Hasundungan Pandiangan, yesterday, said his airline has applied for Mandala flight routes to the Ministry of Transportation. "We have filed a request to the Transportation Ministry."
The proposed routes are Jogjakarta-Palembang, Jogjakarta-Pekanbaru and Jakarta-Singapore. "We have mulled and calculated these routes with the customer and market needs, and the result is great," Hasundungan said.
"For Singapore route, we have to see whether passengers can rent hotels due to the increasing dollar exchange rate."
Hasundungan said the routes left by Mandala had a big potential. Mandala Air initially had five Jakarta-Singapore flight schedules. "Five flights multiplied by 150 seats means there are 750 unserved passengers a day," he said.
However, the closing of Mandala airline is unfortunate for aviation industry, he added. "It goes to show that there is something wrong with the regulation and condition in this country. But, we are confident our airline could keep developing."
INDRI MAULIDAR
