Australia beckons Garuda back to Darwin

The Jakarta Post   |  Tue, 05/26/2009 10:13 PM  |  Business

Indonesia’s national flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, garners more support to reopen flights to Darwin, Australia, with Northern Territory opposition leader Terry Mills calling the route as a bridge that strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

Antara state news agency reported Tuesday Mills saying that Garuda was more than just an airline. With three decades of service in Darwin, he said, the absent of the airline meant the loss of “a bridge that connects citizens of the Northern Territory with the Indonesian people”.

Australian travel agencies have also showed their support in the reopening of the route by pledging to secure 65 percent of its seats to help the airline reach its break even point for the flight.

In early May, ABC News reported that Northern Territory Tourism Minister Chris Burns flew to Jakarta to meet Garuda executives in a bid to lure the airline to sustain the Denpasar-Darwin route.

The country’s flag carrier stopped flying to Darwin in late April due to the fall in number of passengers amid the global economic crisis.

Another factor that caused the route foreclosure, Mills said, could be the Northern Territory government’s decision of subsidizing Australia’s own airline company, Jetstar. The subsidy, he said, could have hurt Garuda.

In a show of support, Mills called on the Northern Territory government and the opposition to engage in efforts to bring the airline back to Darwin.

He also recommended Garuda to fly the Darwin-Kupang (East Nusa Tenggara)-Denpasar route as a way to support Northern Territory’s relationship with the eastern part of Indonesia. (adh)
 

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