Indonesia's Garuda Airlines re-opened its flight route to Taiwan yesterday after service had been suspended for three years amid an economic crisis in Indonesia.
The first MD-80 passenger aircraft arrived at CKS International Airport yesterday morning and flew back to Indonesia with 88 passengers on board, local television networks reported.
Flights were halted in 1998 when Garuda drastically cut its international services after the Asian financial crisis left many routes unprofitable. The situation was compounded by Taiwanese tourists' fears of being caught in riots at a time when racial tensions were high in Indonesia.
The airline now offers four flights weekly between Taipei and Bali.
Despite the new route, tourism in Asia is predicted to decline by 10 percent this year, cutting 1.4 percent from the region's economy and costing 756,000 job losses in Southeast Asia alone, according to the London-based World Travel & Tourism Council. More than 63 million visitors came to Asia in 1999 and spent US$42 billion, according to UN figures.
"Tourism is probably going to be the industry that faces the most severe long-term shock," said David Cohen, an economist at Standard & Poor's MMS International in Singapore.
Indonesia's government said it would ensure foreigners' security. Yet in late September, the Islamic Youth Movement called for foreigners to leave, saying the masses may react violently if the US attacks terrorist bases in Afghanistan.
Garuda Indonesia, the national airline of the Republic of Indonesia, is owned by the Indonesian government. The airline and its subsidiaries operate over 100 aircraft, while Garuda itself operates 55 aircraft and employs nearly 15,000 people.
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