Garuda Airlines Takeover Merpati's Route and Pilots

Jakarta (Antara) - PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk is ready to empower the pilots of PT Merpati Nusantara (Merpati) for flying the routes in some areas of the country, which were abandoned by Merpati. "We are open to empower the pilots of Merpati and take over the routes. Operational director of Garuda and operational director of Merpati had already discussed how to empower the pilots of Merpati, who are not working as they used to," the president director of Garuda Indonesia Tbk, Emirsyah Satar, said at the State Enterprises Ministry building here on Wednesday. According to Emirsyah, the number of Merpati's routes that will be taken over by Garuda will increase. "We asked permission from the Ministry of Transportation to take over the routes, which were abandoned by Merpati. The routes that we are taking over include Sumbawa Besar and North Sumatra," he said. However, Emirsyah said that not all routes will be taken over directly because Garuda Indonesia has to adjust the type of aircraft to be used. "We are asking for the routes, but we cannot use the aircraft that do not have the certification of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). We can use the pilot, but the aircraft not necessarily, because it must have FAA certificates," Emirsyah added. According to the records, Merpati operates many types of MA-60 aircraft, which were produced by Xian Aircraft China that did not have FAA certificates. Emirsyah explained that the Sumbawa Besar route can be flown with the ATR type of aircraft. "In 2014, Garuda will have six units of ATR, the operation will be adjusted for the new destinations," he said. (*) Reporting by Royke Sinaga Translated by Maria Rosari