Uniting the Kingdoms of Bali and Yogyakarta

Jakarta Post reports that Air Asia Indonesia will launch a new flight service between Yogyakarta and Bal starting on June 8, 2012.

“Must Have New Airports!”

Garuda Indonesia has called on the Indonesian government to fulfill its promise to develop the country’s airport infrastructure.

“If the government doesn’t build new airports, it’s going to be a challenge for us,” Garuda President Director Emirsyah Satar told delegates May 8 at the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT) Asia conference in Singapore.

According to Satar, the development of new airports is one of the primary factors in the government’s plan to revive the county’s economy; however, he notes that “we still have to see if the execution is there.”

The country’s main airport, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, was built to handle 22 million passengers a year, but in 2011 51 million passengers passed through the airport, according to comments made by Indonesia’s director general of civil aviation, Herry Bhakti Gumay.

To accommodate this demand, the government has unveiled a plan to build Karawang International Airport, east of the capital city, with construction due to start in 2015 and to be completed in 2019. The new airport initially will support 20 million passengers a year but this will eventually grow to 70 million passengers, says Gumay. The existing airport also is due to be expanded, but it is unclear when construction work will get under way.

Meanwhile, Garuda is seeking financing for the Boeing 737-800s, 777-300ERs and Airbus A330s it has on order. “We’ve already done the financing for aircraft to be delivered through to the end of 2013, but are now looking for financing” for aircraft to be delivered in 2014 and 2015, says Satar, adding that requests for proposals for some of the A330s and 777s are coming. Garuda favors sale and leaseback agreements, says Satar.

http://www.aviationweek.com

Traffic Jams? No More..(we hope)

Honda develops technology designed to prevent traffic jams

Honda has developed technology designed to orevent the ‘accordion effect’ that can bring traffic to a standstill (Photo: Shutterstock)

While modern in car satnav systems can draw on real-time traffic congestion data and suggest alternative routes for drivers to avoid high traffic areas, Honda has taken a different approach to try and minimize the potential for traffic jams. The company has developed new technology designed to detect whether a person’s driving is likely to create traffic jams and encourage them to drive in such a way as to keep traffic flowing.

No doubt you’ve been forced to come to a stop in freeway traffic for no apparent reason. There’s been no accident, no lane closure, no dog on the road, but all of a sudden traffic comes to a complete standstill before moving off again. This stop-start freeway driving is pretty commonplace and is frustrating for those behind the wheel. It also increases travel time, the chance of rear-end accidents, and fuel consumption.

In 2007, research at the University of Exeter showed such traffic jams weren’t necessarily caused by heavy traffic alone, but by a “backward traveling wave” set off by a driver slowing down, causing the car behind to slow further, and the car behind that to slow yet further, and so on, resulting in a so-called “accordion effect” until somewhere down the line traffic comes to a complete standstill.

Now Honda has developed a world first technology that can detect whether the driving patterns of a vehicle are likely to lead to this kind of traffic congestion and suggests ways to avoid it. The system monitors the driver’s acceleration and deceleration patterns and, if it determines they have the potential to create a traffic jam, it encourages smoother driving via a color-coded display.

 

 

Honda says the system can be further improved by connecting it to cloud servers. This allows a vehicle’s Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system to automatically activate at the right time to sync with the driving patterns of vehicles located further up the road and maintain a constant distance between them.

Honda conducted testing of the system in conjunction with the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo. Tests carried out without cloud connectivity and ACC resulted in an increase in the average speed of vehicles by around seven percent and improved fuel efficiency of trailing vehicles by around three percent. Adding the cloud and ACC to the mix improved the figures to 23 percent and eight percent, respectively.

As part of its efforts to bring the technology to market, Honda will conduct the first public-road testing of the system this year, beginning in Italy in May and Indonesia in July.

Source: Honda

Linking Giants

The islands of Java and Sumatra are a step closer to being linked for the first time in their history by Indonesia’s largest-ever infrastructure project. The China Railway Construction Corporation has inked a deal to invest in the RP 100 trillion ($10.9 billion) Sunda Strait Bridge to link the islands — the largest agreement signed during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s visit to Beijing last month. The state-owned company is behind several rail projects in Africa and the Middle East.

“The challenges are huge, but this will pave the way for a breakthrough,” said Agung Prabowo, president director of Graha Banten Lampung Sejahtera, the Indonesian consortium behind the project. “We’re not out to break any records, but we want the bridge realized, as it will benefit people on both sides.”

His consortium brings together the provincial governments of Lampung in Sumatra and Banten in Java, as well as a subsidiary of the Artha Graha conglomerate run by tycoon Tommy Winata. It was set up to lay the groundwork for the bridge in 2007.

It is now waiting for a legal guarantee from the Indonesian government, which is expected to come within weeks. The government is eager for foreign investors to take part in building bridges, highways and other facilities to spur the economy.

The 30km bridge had been envisioned by the country’s first president Sukarno since the 1960s, but only recently did steady economic growth make its construction more realistic.

A feasibility study is in the works, and construction is to start in 2014.

The bridge will link 80 per cent of Indonesia’s 240 million people by road and rail, and will take some 10 years to complete. The world’s largest ships will be able to pass under it, as the bridge will stand 80m at its highest.

Indonesia’s longest bridge at present is the 5.4km-long Suramadu Bridge, completed in 2009, that links Surabaya in East Java with the island of Madura. It, too, was built by a consortium of Indonesian and Chinese companies over six years.

Officials on both sides of the strait near where the new bridge will start — in Anyer, Java and Bakauheni, Sumatra — are already gearing up for it, with the Banten and Lampung governments publicizing the bridge to attract investors to set up shop there.

The connection will also intentionally start at Anyer, 40km south of the port of Merak, from which most ferries to Sumatra currently operate.

Geologists and disaster management officials have given the all-clear to the proposed design, by renowned Indonesian architect Wiratman Wangsadinata, which would be able to withstand an earthquake of magnitude 9 as well as eruptions of the Anak Krakatau volcano some 50km away. It was formed after the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.

“The Sunda Strait is likely to be the site of a major earthquake,” Professor Masyhur Irsyam of the Bandung Institute of Technology said this week. “But this is only a problem if structures are not designed to be strong enough to resist it.”

The bridge will also be 200km from the undersea fault where the Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates meet. As a result, the impact of a tsunami on the bridge will be limited, according to simulations, National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

But forget about hiking across the bridge for now: Winds at the strait are often fierce, and the crossing by ferry can stretch up to four hours.

In its report on the deal, the Beijing Review cited China Institute of International Studies president Qu Xing as saying that there is great demand for funds and technology in Indonesian infrastructure.

“China is highly experienced in building railways, highways, bridges and irrigation projects, and considers Indonesia one of its major prospective investment destinations,” it said.

(The Straits Times)

Indonesian Bonanza is so Spoiling..

Buoyed by rapid economic growth, Indonesia has become a bonanza for international plane makers who are booking some of the world’s biggest sales as Western airlines suffer a downturn.

Europe’s Airbus and US manufacturer Boeing have secured billions of dollars in orders over the past year as Southeast Asia’s largest economy experiences a travel boom and looks to link its archipelago of more than 17,000 islands.

Indonesian carrier Lion Air placed the single largest contract in commercial aviation history during a November visit by US President Barack Obama, ordering 230 Boeing aircraft for a whopping $22.4 billion.

Last week, Airbus bagged a $2.5 billion contract for 11 A330-300s to national carrier Garuda International during a visit to Indonesia by British Prime Minister David Cameron.

“There’s a major transformation going on, not just with Garuda but with the whole aviation industry in Indonesia,” industry analyst Gerry Soejatman told AFP.

“Around 60 million, or a quarter the population, travel domestically by air annually. That number could easily double if the price is right,” he said.

The deal with Airbus was part of Garuda’s plans to expand services less than two years after the European Union lifted a ban on the airline from entering its airspace, citing the country’s poor safety record.

“We’re seeing two things meeting harmoniously — first a rise in economic power spreading across the demographic. Many more people have reached an economic threshold that allows them to fly,” Sydney-based Center for Asia Pacific Aviation Chairman Peter Harbison told AFP.

“At the same time, more airlines are coming in, and are basically flying to your doorstep at a much lower price. Put those two things together and you have a recipe for enormous growth.”

Western airlines meanwhile have faced a downturn, with the aviation industry in Europe taking a hit from the 2008-09 financial crisis.

Air travel demand in Europe has started to creep up again, but Fitch Ratings said in a statement earlier this year it expected poor demand in 2012 and European airlines focusing on minimizing losses.

It forecast “significant retrenchment for the largest European network airlines” such as Air France-KLM, which lost 700 million euros ($925 million) in 2011.

In Indonesia, the economy is projected to grow 6.5 percent this year and per capita income surpassing $3,000. More of its 240 million people are paying for the convenience of air travel over tiresome and often unsafe ferry rides.

Earlier this month, defunct airline Mandala made a comeback with significant investment from Singapore’s Tiger Airways.

New carrier Pacific Royale Airways, flying domestic and some international routes, is expected to take off later this month.

Indonesia’s aviation industry exploded after the year 2000, with domestic air travel increasing by about 500 percent, Harbison said, adding that the industry has marked steady progress since then.

“One of the interesting things about Lion’s order was that other airlines in the region were talking big orders to fly across Asia. In Lion’s case, they were primarily looking to its domestic market.”

Indonesia’s domestic airlines carried 60 million passengers last year, marking a 15 percent growth from the previous year, government figures show.

That is forecast to almost double by 2015, said Indonesia’s official association for all airlines, the Indonesian Air Carriers Association, which works closely with the transport ministry.

But analysts are concerned that the country’s infrastructure may not be able to keep up with the aviation boom, urging the government to expedite plans to expand the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in the capital Jakarta.

The airport handles more than 44 million passengers a year, and 60 million are expected to come through by 2014.

“Beyond infrastructure, there are two important questions: Where are we going to park all these new planes, and who’s going to fly them?” Soejatman said.

“It’s all well and good to say Indonesia’s aviation industry is growing, but we have to make sure we have the space for it all by the time these extra flights begin. I think it could be a close call.”

Indonesia is also slowly repairing its reputation for poor aviation safety, with six airlines now allowed back in the EU after Brussels slapped a ban on all 51 of the country’s commercial airlines from its airspace in 2007.

Agence France-Presse

More lines in the sky

Indonesia’s flag carrier Garuda will sign a deal for 11 Airbus passenger jets on Wednesday, during a visit byPrime Minister David Cameron aimed at boosting trade and investment.

The purchase of the A330 jets, worth about $2.5 billion (1.5 billion pounds) and powered by UK supplied Rolls-Royce engines, reflects the growing consumer demand that is attracting political leaders and financiers to court Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

“This deal between Airbus and Garuda Indonesia Airlines is great news for the UK aerospace industry,” Cameron told reporters after arriving in Jakarta on a 24-hour visit.

Cameron’s coalition government is trying to boost British manufacturing to reduce reliance on financial services and to limit exposure to the crisis-hit euro zone by doing more business with fast-growing emerging markets.

Cameron, accompanied by about 35 executives on an Asian tour, has said he sees enormous potential in Indonesia, and the British delegation is expected to focus on possible deals in energy, construction, retail, pharmaceutical, defence and financial services sectors.

The new Airbus jets will increase by two-thirds the number of long-haul A330s already delivered to Garuda or on order from the airline. Its main domestic rival Lion Air in February signed a record $22 billion deal for planes from Boeing Co.

That deal was first announced during a visit to Jakarta by U.S. President Barack Obama. Leaders from China and France also visited last year together with large delegations of executives sniffing for investment opportunities, especially to overhaul Indonesia’s dilapidated infrastructure.

Indonesia is seeing a rapidly expanding aviation sector as a growing middle class, and business executives, opt to travel by air across an archipelago of 17,000 islands. Many islands lack good roads or railways, while ship connections are sporadic and slow, and deadly transport accidents are common.

Many airlines use ageing propeller planes to navigate remote and mountainous eastern provinces such as Papua, where a Garuda plane skidded off the runway on Wednesday. Garuda was removed from a European Union blacklist on Indonesian carriers in 2009.

Garuda’s CEO Emirsyah Satar said he planned to use the new Airbus planes to expand in Asia-Pacific, including to China, South Korea and Australia.

Southeast Asian carriers have ordered $47 billion worth of aircraft for the coming decade.

(Reporting by Olivia Rondonuwu and Mohammed Abbas; Writing by Neil Chatterjee; Editing by Michael Perry)

(Reuters)

Propelling World’s Best Airline

The Sky is not the Limit

Schedule and charter airline ASI Pudjiastuti Aviation, known as Susi Air, plans to expand its fleet by adding up to 15 new planes every year with an annual investment of Rp 220 billion to Rp 330 billion ($24.2 million to $36.3 million), starting next year.

The plan outlined its goal to fly to all Indonesian islands, a huge ambition from an airline which just started with two Cessna Caravans for carrying lobsters eight years ago.

“Starting next year, we plan to add 10 to 15 planes each year, depending on demand in the market” said Susi Pudjiastuti, the president director of Susi Air. “Indonesia air travel never dies.”

The airline, which specialized in flying small planes — less than 20 seats — servicing small towns and remote areas, now operates a fleet of 47 aircraft, including two helicopters.

Susi said that the new fleet would consist of pioneering airplanes such as the Cessna Caravan and Pilatus Porter, as well as helicopters and Piaggio Avanti for chartered flights.

The airline will need to invest between Rp 220 billion to Rp 330 billion each year for the planes, she said. Currently it is financing its expansion with loans from state-owned lenders Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia.

“We dream to fly to all destinations in Indonesia,” Susi said.

She said Susi Air would open three new routes in Central Java, from Cilacap to Solo, Semarang and Yogyakarta, in July.

Susi Air has bases that offer scheduled flights in Sumatra, Jakarta, Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara and Papua. The airline has yet to serve scheduled flights in Sulawesi.

Susi said that 80 percent of the airline’s flights catered to customers in small towns, acting as a point-to-point commuter or as feeder for bigger airlines.

Susi Air also caters to cargo flights and mining workers who need lifts to remote mining sites.

Serving 35,000 to 40,000 passengers a month, Susi estimates that the airline handles about 15 percent of such routes.

Its competitors include debt-burdened state-owned Merpati Airlines, Aviastar Mandiri Airlines and Trigana Air Service. In terms of volume, Susi Air’s 200 flights a day lose out only to Indonesian heavyweights Lion Air and state-owned flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

Its fiercest competition has come from land-based companies. Susi Air had to close a Jakarta-Bandung route last year as travel vans provided cheaper fares to the West Java capital.

Investor Daily

The Best Airline. Twice in Row ! ~

Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia’s national carrier, has been recognised as ‘Best International Airline for February 2012’ in Roy Morgan’s Customer Satisfaction Awards, an accolade the airline was recently honoured with for the month January 2012.

Bagus Y. Siregar, Senior General Manager Australia/SWP Garuda Indonesia commented: “We are honoured to receive this award for the second time this year and it encourages us to maintain the high standards we have implemented as we progress towards becoming one of Asia’s leading airlines.”

The Customer Satisfaction survey conducted by research company Roy Morgan, ranked Garuda Indonesia ahead of other leading airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Air New Zealand with a monthly satisfaction score of 91 per cent. The recent awards recognise the success of Garuda Indonesia’s Qantum Leap program which includes the revitalisation of the airline’s existing fleet and the introduction of The Garuda Indonesia Experience, the carrier’s service concept that offers a uniquely Indonesian level of service on the ground and inflight. Garuda Indonesia will continue to invest in enhancing its service offerings in order to become a five star carrier by 2015.

For further information, please refer to the Roy Morgan release (also available online:www.newsmaker.com.au/news/15878).

It’s official now. Jakarta with the MRT

Indonesia’s Transportation Ministry announced on Wednesday that the tender process for Jakarta’s mass rapid transit (MRT) project had been opened and that the first phase of the project would be commence operations by 2016.

Tundjung Inderawan, director general for railways at the ministry, said the construction was expected to commence in the middle of the year, as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which has agreed to fund the project, had approved 10 contractors in the pre-qualification stage.

Then they are scheduled to offer prices in June or July, after which the winner will be chosen and the construction can finally begin.

“This year we will start the construction, so that by mid or end of 2016 Indonesia will have an MRT,” Tundjung said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The first MRT will span 15.5 kilometers, connecting Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to the Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle in Central Jakarta. It will have seven flyovers and six subway stations.

BeritaSatu