general

One in 200 passengers will be affected by airlines going bust over the next 15 years: that is the prediction of the Airline Insolvency Review, set up after the collapse of Monarch last October. By the end of that spell, says the interim report, a typical airline failure could affect nearly 900,000 passengers, compared with half a million today – roughly the number caught up in the Monarch collapse. “This increase in affected passengers is driven by passenger demand growth and increasing insolvency risk,” says the report. Around 110,000 Monarch passengers were abroad when their airline went bust. The Civil Aviation Authority operation to bring them home cost the government GBP60m – a cost of GBP545 per passenger, for a typical flight of two or three hours. Peter Bucks, the chair of the review, said the failure of Air Berlin at roughly the same time, was treated very differently: “The German government chose to provide immediate financial support to keep the airline temporarily running through administration. Two insolvencies with two different responses. Both managing to avoid thousands of passengers being left to fend for themselves, both costing the taxpayer significant amounts of money.”<br/>

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has said that the government plans to develop 10 new airports to support the development of tourism in the country. He said the government was discussing financial resources for the planned projects. “The valuation process is being discussed by the Finance Ministry,” Budi said Wednesday. Airports would be developed in Lampung, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, Central Kalimantan, Bangka Belitung and North Sumatra, he said. Tjilik Riwut Airport in Central Kalimantan was slated for completion this year, Budi said. Budi said that the government invited the private sector to help develop the airports because of a limited amount of funds for infrastructure from the state budget. The government was also discussing ownership of the airports, he added.<br/>