Garuda to Pay Widow Of Munir Rp 3.5b

Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto, February 19, 2011

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The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal filed by flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and upheld an earlier ruling ordering the airline to pay damages to the widow of slain rights activist Munir Said Thalib, lawyers said on Friday.

Munir died of arsenic poisoning on board a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam in 2004. The poison was administered by off-duty pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2008 for the murder.

In 2006, Suciwati, Munir’s widow, sued Garuda’s management, former executive director Indra Setiawan, vice president of corporate security Ramelgia Anwar, flight operator support officer Rohainil Aini, Pollycarpus and five members of the cabin crew on board the flight.

The Central Jakarta District Court ruled in her favor and ordered Garuda and the other respondents to pay Rp 3.5 billion ($396,000) in damages.

Nurkholis Hidayat, director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) and a lawyer for Suciwati, said this effectively meant Garuda and the others had to pay up “for the losses caused by Munir’s death.”

“And because Garuda lost its appeal to the Supreme Court, even though it may file for an extraordinary remedy against the ruling, that will not stop Suciwati from claiming what is hers.”

Nurkholis said the ruling could be considered partial justice for Munir and his family, “even though during the criminal trial, the courts never touched the mastermind [behind the murder].”

One of the key suspects in the case, former intelligence chief Muchdi Purwopranjono, was acquitted of the murder.

A former commander of the army’s Special Forces unit (Kopassus), Muchdi was forced to step down after Munir, who founded the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), shed light on the elite unit’s involvement in kidnapping dissenters.

Choirul Anam, a lawyer for Suciwati who is also deputy chairman of the Human Rights Work Group and coordinator of the Committee of Solidarity Action for Munir (Kasum), said he had been notified about the ruling on Thursday.

He said the Supreme Court’s ruling should inspire more victims and wronged consumers to file civil suits.

“Especially those who were aggrieved by the aviation industry in Indonesia, which is still far from perfect,” he said, adding the court’s decision “marks a success for consumers in demanding compensation.”

“We hope that Garuda, which has been trying to polish its image, will cooperate with us and obey the verdict without making it more complicated,” Choirul said.

Garuda spokesman Pudjobroto declined to comment on the case, telling the Jakarta Globe the company had not yet received official notification of the verdict.

Australian travellers stranded due to volcanic ash

News.com.au, AAP January 28, 2011 7:20AM

Stranded passengers wait at Ngurah Rai airport in Bali's city of Denpasar
after their plane to Singapore was cancelled / AFP

• Volcanic ash floating over Indonesia
• Forces flights to be grounded, cancelled
• Hundreds of Aussies face holiday disruption

A FIERY volcano is causing holiday misery for hundreds of Australians with airlines cancelling flights as a large ash cloud floats in the skies above Indonesia.

In echoes of last year's Icelandic volcano chaos, the eruption of 2329-metre-high Tengger Caldera, in east Java, led to the cancellation of about a dozen flights and left passengers stranded on Thursday night.

Virgin Blue and Jetstar both cancelled flights to and from Denpasar, the main airport serving the popular holiday island of Bali.

Jetstar cancelled five flights and diverted another which was already in the air.

The budget airline, a subsidiary of the national carrier Qantas, said it would continue to monitor the situation and advise of any additional cancellations.

Virgin Blue, at 8pm (AEDT) yesterday, said all its flights to and from Bali were cancelled for the next 24 hours.

A spokeswoman said three or four flights were grounded last night and another two cancelled this morning.

"Virgin Blue would like to advise that, as a precautionary measure, all flights to and from Bali have been cancelled for the next 24-hours,'' the airline said in a statement.

It advised guests left stranded in Denpasar to remain in their accommodation.

Air Asia said that none of its flights to Bali had been affected.

A Garuda Indonesia flight from Sydney to Denpasar was listed as having departed at 12.20pm (AEDT) yesterday.

Qantas does not fly to the city.

The Jetstar aircraft due to fly to Denpasar on Thursday were from Sydney and Darwin.

Three flights from Denpasar to Perth, Sydney and Darwin were also grounded by the budget airline.

A sixth Jetstar flight from Perth to Denpasar was diverted to Darwin and is due to return to Perth.

"Safety of our passengers and crew is Jetstar's number one priority and as a result the airline has cancelled tonight's flights between Australia and Denpasar (Bali),'' a Jetstar statement said.

"The airline is closely monitoring the situation and will advise passengers should there be any further impact.

"No other services are affected at this stage.''

The Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, part of the Bureau of Meteorology, issued an advisory yesterday saying Tengger Caldera had erupted, with ash extending 200 nautical miles (370km) northeast.

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Mount Bromo's eruption in Indonesia paralyzes tourism

English.news.cn   2010-12-24

JAKARTA, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Mount Bromo's eruption in Indonesia's East Java province on Friday paralyzed tourism industry as hotels were closed due to thick ashes, detikcom online news reported on Friday.

Hotels of Lava View, Cemara and Bukit Cemara have not received any guest in the past couple of days as ash on the streets was as thick as 15-40 centimeters.

Besides, blackout since Tuesday has been posing difficulties for the hotels to operate. The condition was worsened by disturbed water supply, leaving no choice for the hotels but to cancel reservation.

"We have to shut power down since Tuesday. Increasing eruption is feared to trigger power shorting," said head of local police of Probolinggo regency Adj. Comm Zulfikar.

The volcanic center also warned air operators against volcanic ashes which could disrupt flight.

"There is a warning from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) that said the volcanic ashes does not just spread around the mountain but also to Sidoarjo and Surabaya cities, Madura Island, Pasuruan regency and to Java Sea. Flight sector must be aware of the condition," Setiawan, a forecaster at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics of Juanda Airport in the provincial capital city of Surabaya, told suarasurabaya.net.

Editor: Xiong Tong

Jakarta honors Singapore Airlines for supporting its tourism

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/15/2010

The Jakarta administration has honored Singapore Airlines with the 2010 Adikarya Wisata award for supporting tourism in Jakarta.

The awards are dedicated to tourism and other related industries considered to have made a significant contribution to the development of tourism in the Indonesian capital.

Singapore Airlines’ Indonesian general manager David Lau said in a statement Wednesday that the airlines welcomed and was honored by the award, Antara reported.

Lau accepted the award from the chairman of Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Eddy Kuntadi, in a ceremony last week.

Adikarya Wisata is awarded annually, and this year marks its ninth year.

Nine moluccans join Garuda`s family trip to Holland

Antara News, Sunday, October 17, 2010 22:15 WIB

Ambon, Maluku (ANTARA News) - Nine people from Maluku joined a Family Trip program sponsored by national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia to the Netherlands from October 17 to 20, 2010.

"The nine people from Maluku who joined the Family Trip left for the Netherlands via Jakarta on Sunday," Ambon branch of Garuda Indonesia marketing spokesman Nazrudin said here on Sunday morning.

Nazrudin said Garuda provided representatives from culture and tourism office, a Garuda partner company, and media in Maluku with nine free tickets for the Family Trip to the Netherlands.

"But unfortunately Maluku Culture and Tourism Office chairperson Florence Sahusilawane does not get a free ticket to Holland because she is at present in a training program," Nazrudin said.

Nazruddin said Garuda Indonesia organized the Family Trip program to the Netherlands for the nine participants to promote Maluku tourism potentials to West European tourists.

"Following the reopening of Garuda`s Jakarta-Amsterdam and Jakarta-Ambon routes in June this year, the Family Trip program is expected to contribute to tourism development in Indonesia in general and Maluku in particular," Nazrudin said.

Therefore he hoped the invited Molucans would use the opportunity while in the Netherlands to promote Maluku tourism potentials as well as convincing Dutch citizens of Maluku origin that the Indonesian province is absolutely safe for visitors.

"The Garuda Indonesia flight schedule is made flexible to enable the Family Trip participants to make every effort to familiarize Maluku tourism as optimally as possible to West European tourists," Nazrudin said..

Europe here we come again: Garuda

Primastuti Handayani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 06/02/2010 8:46 AM

After an almost six-year hiatus, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia returns to Europe, marked by its inaugural flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam.

Garuda CEO and President Emirsyah Satar said during a ceremony to mark the restoration of the route at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Tuesday that the nation is proud that the airline can fly to Europe once again.

“We’re proud to return to Amsterdam. Garuda had earned an award as the most punctual airlines at Schipol [in 2001 and 2002]. We hope we can achieve it again,” he said.

The inaugural flight was made possible after the EU lifted its flight ban on Indonesian airlines last year, which had previously been imposed following a string of plane crashes that claimed hundreds of lives.

Garuda stopped its flights to Europe to cut costs late 2004. The EU banned Indonesian airlines in 2007, citing safety concerns after an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar said the reinstated flight was the result of hard work by all the related institutions.

“Garuda is not only the country’s flag carrier. It has performed well and earned profits after years of deficits. Garuda has managed to improve its brand image,” he said.

The carrier is expanding further in Europe, by opening other routes to Frankfurt, London, Paris and Rome, Mustafa added.

Currently, four Airbus A330-200 aircraft will serve the Jakarta-Amsterdam route, via Dubai. Garuda departs daily at 8:40 p.m. from Jakarta and 11 a.m. from Amsterdam, with an ambitious target of achieving at least 80 percent capacity on its Amsterdam flights.

For the upcoming routes to other European cities, the airline has ordered several Boeing 777s that are expected to arrive next year.

Supporting the return to Europe, the airlines worked with designer Josephine “Obin” Komara in creating new uniforms for cabin crew.

The uniforms carry the classic “parang” batik motif, and comprise a long skirt and kebaya-inspired blouse in turquoise, blue and orange for female flight attendants. Stewards wear business suits.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Mustafa, Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik and Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Nikolaos van Dam were among 108 VIPs onboard Garuda’s first flight to Amsterdam.

The reopening of the route is also expected to attract 200,000 tourists from the Netherlands this year, the tourism ministry has said.

Garuda Indonesia is Awarded World's Most Improved Airline

Jakarta Globe, May 24, 2010

Garuda is deemed the World's Most Improved Airline (Photo JG)

Garuda Indonesia was announced as the winner of the World's Most Improved Airline Award at the 2010 World Airline Awards in Hamburg.

The award was a part of annual ceremony by Skytrax, a United Kingdom-based consultancy that conducts research for commercial airlines. Skytrax based their ratings and awards on surveys of more than 17 million passengers, carried out over 10 months.

Passengers rate airlines on customer service, comfort of seating, quality of food, lounges and cabin crew.

Vice President Corporate Communications of Garuda Indonesia Pujobroto said in a release that the award was accepted by the company's commercial director Agus Priyanto. Pujo said the award was international appreciation for their success.

“Garuda is considered to be one of the most successful and lucrative airlines in Asia,” he said.

Skytrax Chairman Edward Plaisted praised Garuda Indonesia for the award.

“This was a very competitive category in the 2010 Awards, and our sincere congratulations go to Garuda Indonesia on their success. It is clear that a real process of transformation has progressed well at Garuda Indonesia, and aside from new aircraft and new onboard products, it was improvements in onboard service that were most frequently commented upon by survey respondents," Edward said in Worldairlineawards.com.

The runners-up in this Award category were Hainan Airlines and Oman Air .

Another Asian airline joined Garuda in winning — AirAsia was given the Best Low-Cost Airline award.

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