Air transport in Indonesia

History

The colonial era

In 1928, Dutch Indies businessmen founded in Amsterdam the Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij (“Royal Netherlands Indies Air Company”) or KNILM (which was not a subsidiary of the national company KLM ). Its first regular connections are Batavia (now Jakarta) – Bandung (West Java) and Batavia – Semarang (Central Java), based on the Cililitan airfield (now Jakarta Halim Perdanakusuma airport ). The KNILM network is gradually expanding to other islands, including Palembang and Medanin Sumatra, Balikpapan and Tarakan in Kalimantan , Denpasar in Bali and Ambon in the Moluccas . In 1930, KNILM inaugurated its first international connection with Singapore . In 1938, she opened a line to Sydney , stopping at Darwin , Cloncurry and Charleville. KNILM did not serve the Netherlands, as the weekly Klaas-Batavia was operated by KLM.

The independent Indonesia

Airlines

The main companies are:

• Garuda Indonesia , the national flag carrier
• Lion Air
• Batavia Air
• Sriwijaya Air
• Wings Air
• Merpati Nusantara , also a national company
• Mandala Airlines
• Indonesia AirAsia
• Trigana Air .

Garuda Indonesia is named after a fabulous bird of Hindu mythology . Garuda is the mount ( vahana ) of the god Vishnu when it comes down to earth.

Several companies of the Soeharto era have disappeared, including the private company Bouraq (created in 1970 ) and Sempati (which belonged to Tommy , a son of Soeharto ). Conversely, since the resignation of Soeharto in 1998 , several low-cost private companies have been created.

Many of these companies have, in addition to domestic services, destinations abroad, mainly in Asia but also in Australia . Most are equipped with old Boeing 737-200s , coming from a lot of old devices bought in the 1990s by the Minister of Industry and Technology, BJ Habibie , from the German company Lufthansa .

However, Indonesian companies are starting to re-equip themselves. Garuda confirmed the purchase of 25 Boeing 737-800 ^2s . The company will also acquire ten Boeing 787 deliverables from 2011 . The Boeing 787s will serve European destinations, marking the company’s return to Europe , from which it stopped serving in 2002 . Garuda currently owns 51 Boeing and 6 Airbus .

In May 2006, Lion Air , a low-cost airline, has signed a US $ 3.9 billion for the purchase of 60 Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-900 , the first of which was delivered in 2007 .

These two contracts are among the most important transactions in Indonesia since the Asian financial crisis of 1997 – 1998 .

In June 2006, the government-owned company Merpati has ordered 15 60-seater Xian MA60 turboprop airliners, the largest contract ever obtained by the Chinese manufacturer, available from late 2006 .

Adam Air , which was 3 ^e company by market share, has been banned from flying by the Indonesian government in March 2008 ³ . Alongside the national companies, companies appeared with more local visions. For example, the government of Riau Province in Sumatra created Riau Airlines , based in Pekanbaru , the provincial capital. Men of affairs of the province Indonesia of small oriental Sunda Islands created the consortium TransNusa , who coordinates the service by the province and Riau AirlinesTrigana Air . The company Susi Air , with its Cessna Grand Caravans and Piaggio P180 Avanti II, serves small airports where aircraft such as the Boeing 737 could not land.

Airports

The Indonesia is relatively well equipped airports. Besides the capital Jakarta , the following cities have an international class airport:

• Balikpapan ( East Kalimantan )
• Batam ( Riau Islands )
• Biak ( Papua )
• Denpasar ( Bali )
• Makassar ( South Sulawesi )
• Manado ( North Sulawesi )
• Medan ( North Sumatra )
• Padang ( West Sumatra )
• Surabaya ( East Java )
• Yogyakarta .

Domestic traffic

The slower growth of the Indonesian economy (5.1% to 2 ^e quarter of 2014 year on year, while it was above 6% in recent years) translates into slower air traffic growth . 36.8 million passengers were carried during the first six months of 2014, a growth of only 2.3% compared to the corresponding period of 2013 ⁴ .

With a 41.6% share of the market, the low-cost company Lion Air is backing down to the national company Garuda Indonesia , whose share was 23.5%. Sriwijaya Air occupies the 3 ^th place with 10.4%, followed by Citilink (the low cost subsidiary of Garuda) with 8.9%, Wings Air (Lion Air subsidiary) with 4.7% and Indonesia AirAsia with 4, 4%.

In 2006, 10 companies accounted for 97% of Indonesia’s domestic air traffic (in thousands of passengers):

(*) Forbidden to fly since March 2008 by the Indonesian government

Source: Indonesian Civil Aviation Directorate General

In 1996 , on the eve of the 1997 financial crisis , domestic air traffic accounted for 13.5 million passengers out of a total of 21.5 million. The crisis causes a collapse of this traffic, which is only 6.3 million in 1999, corresponding to an average annual decrease of nearly 22%. During this period, international traffic held steady, declining slightly from 8 million in 1996 to 7.9 million in 1999 .

The year 1999 , which is the first truly democratic elections in 1955 , corresponding to a low point of air traffic in Indonesia . From that moment, it will not stop growing. Total traffic rose from 14.2 million passengers that year to 48 million in 2006 , representing an average annual growth of more than 17%. During this period, international traffic increased by 8.5% per year on average. The growth is therefore due to an explosion of domestic traffic, which increased from 6.3 million to more than 34 million in 2006 , an increase of nearly 27% per year on average.

The main factor in this boom in domestic air traffic is the emergence of low cost airlines. Traditional companies do not seem to enjoy this renaissance. Garuda Indonesia , the national flag carrier, sees its traffic increase painfully from 6.3 million in 2004 , to 7 million in 2006 . Worse, Merpati , the other national company, sees its traffic decrease from 2.5 million to 1.7 million. Mandala , a company founded in 1967 by a foundation of the Indonesian army, also sees its traffic decrease from 2.2 million to 1.5 million during this period.

On the other hand, the new companies, all private, are experiencing a real explosion. Lion Air , 2 ^e Indonesian company, founded in 2000 , heels Garuda , with traffic increasing by 35% in 2 years. Adam Air , created in 2003 , sees its traffic increase from 485,000 passengers in 2004 to 4.9 million in 2006 . Indonesia AirAsia , which carried only 10,000 people in 2004 , exceeded 1.5 million passengers in 2006 .

But this phenomenon has its dark side. A series of accidents will reveal serious weaknesses in aviation safety in Indonesia . Mandala is hit by two accidents in 2005 and 2006 . Adam Air also knows two accidents, early 2007 . Even the national company Garuda , considered more serious than its private competitors, suffered an accident inMarch 2007. InJune 2007, the European Union decides to ban its airspace to all Indonesian companies, including the flag bearer Garuda . Although no Indonesian airline has been serving Europe since Garuda ‘s European flights were terminated in 2004 , this measure serves as a warning to the public and travel professionals about the risks of air travel in Indonesia.

Garuda and Mandala have submitted to the International Air Transport Association’s ( IATA ) IOSA audit program .

International traffic

Flag carrier, Garuda serves Asia , Australia , Europe and the Middle East .

Private companies extend their network abroad:

• Lion Air : Singapore , Kuala Lumpur , from 2008 , Hong Kong and Bangkok
• Indonesia AirAsia : from 2008 , Bangkok , Penang , Macao
• Mandala Airlines : Singapore , Penang

Accidents

• 26/09/97: An Airbus A300 from Garuda crashes into a mountain north of Medan in North Sumatra. The 222 passengers and 12 crew members are killed.
• 11/30/04: A Lion Air McDonnell Douglas MD-82 carrying 146 passengers and 7 crew members leaves the runway on landing at Solo Airport in central Java. 31 people are killed.
• 05/09/05: The Boeing 737 -200 of flight 091 Mandala Airlines crashes into the suburbs of Medan, killing 102 people on board and 47 people on the ground.
• 01/01/07: The Boeing 737-400 of Flight 574 Adam Air crashes at sea while flying from Surabaya in East Java to Manado in the north of Celebes .
• 07/03/07: The Boeing 737-400 of flight Garuda 200, with 133 passengers and 7 crew members on board, leaves the runway on landing at Yogyakarta International Airport in central Java, 21 dead.

Black List of the European Union

All Indonesian airlines were added to the list of airlines banned from operating in the European Union at the end of June 2007.

On 14/07/09, the European Commission announced the withdrawal of four Indonesian companies from this list. These are Garuda Indonesia , Airfast , Mandala Airlines and Premiair ⁵ .

On 23 April 2011, the European Union’s Committee for Aviation Safety removed from this list four other airlines specialized in cargo. They are Cardig Air (sister airline of Mandala Airlines ), Republic Express , Asia Link and Air Maleo . This decision followed the government’s explanation at a videoconference on March 11, 2011, that all Indonesian airlines, except for Wings Air (a low-cost subsidiary of Lion Air) , had undergone certification ⁶ .

The Indonesian government has ordered airlines to each own a fleet of at least 10 aircraft by 2012, otherwise they may be under the ban of flying. At least five out of 10 planes will have to belong entirely to the Indonesian airlines, the others being rented. Currently, more than half of the 50 Indonesian commercial and charter airlines have fewer than five aircraft ⁷ .

Notes and references