The launch of Air Paradise International in February couldn't have come at a worse time.
The Bali-based airline's maiden flight was delayed for three months after the Oct. 12 terrorist attacks on the island in which 202 people died. When it finally took to the air Feb. 16, it had to contend not only with a slump in travel to Bali, but also with the looming war in Iraq.
"On top of that, we now have to deal with SARS," owner Kadek Wiranatha said, referring to severe acute respiratory syndrome, the contagious flu-like illness that has ravaged air travel throughout Southeast Asia.
Still, Wiranatha is optimistic that Air Paradise will prosper in the burgeoning aviation market in Indonesia, where air travel is the primary means of getting around the country's 13,000 islands scattered over an area the size of the US.
While many airlines worldwide are cutting back, coping with empty seats and mounting losses, Indonesia is seeing an unprecedented boom with packed planes and new domestic carriers vying for a place in the sky.
By the end of 2002, there were 22 airlines in the country, up from five in 1998 when the Asian financial crisis devastated Indonesia's economy. At least four more are seeking approval to start flying this year, officials said.
The 1998 crisis slashed passenger numbers by more than half, from 13.4 million in 1998 to 6.2 million the following year, said Santoso Eddie Wibowo, director of civil aviation at the Ministry of Transport. But since then, he said, ticket sales have steadily grown and are expected to surpass pre-crisis levels this year.
A factor in the expansion is that entrepreneurs can get planes more cheaply now, said Srboljub Savic, a consultant and expert in Indonesian civil aviation.
``It owes much to the post-Sept. 11 airline problems in the United States, which have idled a large number of passenger jets and made them available for leasing at rock-bottom rates,'' Savic said.
Medium-range jets like a Boeing 737-300 can be leased for US$45,000 a month, compared to US$120,000 two years ago, Savic said.
RSS