Thomas F. Kamm
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Dabei seit: 22.12.2002
Beiträge: 15.936
Herkunft: Surabaya
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 Trigana Air: An entrepreneurial success story in eastern RI |
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The Jakarta Post.com
Business News
March 20, 2006Trigana Air: An entrepreneurial success story in eastern RI
Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
As Indonesia works to accelerate development in eastern parts of the
country, aviation plays a crucial role since many paths between towns or
regencies cannot be reached by cars or trucks.
Trigana Air Service -- established as a company in 1991 -- operates most
of its aircraft in eastern parts of Indonesia, flying over deep valleys
and pristine jungles to serve areas in Borneo and Papua.
While many airline carriers compete for the "fat" routes between main
hubs, Trigana maximizes its strength to concentrate on "slimmer" options:
cargo and feeder services. Trigana transports basic materials to remote
areas in Papua and takes passengers to Borneo and East Nusa Tenggara.
The carrier, which employs 150 air crew and 80 ground staff, has managed
to expand its fleet from four to 17 aircraft while many other domestic
airlines continue to scale down their fleets. In the course of the last 15
years, Trigana has modified its approach from aerial photography to full
freight services as well as half cargo and half passengers services.
The Jakarta Post recently interviewed the president director and owner of
Trigana, Triputra Yusni Prawiro, better known as Yusni, 43, about the
company's growing business.
Question: How did you start Trigana Air Service?
Answer: Well, I have always loved aviation since I was a child and this
business started out as a hobby.
It started in the early 1990s, when the government introduced a program to
develop the economy in eastern parts of Indonesia. Before Trigana was
born, I was already involved in a few companies in eastern areas.
There was an opportunity for air services at that time and we started
building Trigana with a vision to help develop means of transportation in
those areas. The aviation industry had an opportunity to grow there
although airlines such as Merpati Nusantara Airline already existed.
Our first planes were Beech King Air and we had four of them, of which two
were owned and the other two leased. We flew our aircraft back then mainly
for aerial photography and landscape mapping. Trigana customers were
mainly government institutions transporting basic materials to remote
areas and forestry companies.
After operating those King Air planes for a few years, we thought that
they had reached the end of their usefulness. We replaced them with Fokker
F-27 planes with an emphasis on services in Papua.
Why did Papua become a priority?
At the time, Papua wanted to build its tourist industry. Then I asked
myself "how?". I met with Papua's governor at the time, Jacob Pattipi, who
had a mission to develop Asmat (tribal) culture and expose it
internationally.
We had a partnership with Irian Bakti, a local company that had rights to
distribute basic consumption materials, such as sugar, oil and rice, to
all parts of Papua. We operated our aircraft to transport them.
At one point, we realized that our fleet was not large enough. Once there
were a lot of accumulating materials that expired before they reached the
end users. We saw rice that had turned to displeasing colors. It was hard
to imagine people eating it.
The government's plan to build the Trans Papua, a highway network that was
to connect many parts of the island, had not materialized. So aviation
naturally made a big contribution there.
What other aircraft did Trigana operate there?
Besides the F-27, we also operated Twin Otter and Potter Pilatus. We
operated the F-27, with a capacity of four tons, to serve between main
airports, such as Sentani and Wamena. The Twin Otter, with a one-ton
capacity, served districts and the Potter Pilatus, with less than a ton,
served subdistricts.
Transporting cargo only?
That's right. However, about four years ago we had an airline permit for
regular flights to serve passengers.
Before, Trigana only had a charter permit. After that we added to our
fleet, and we decided that we could establish partnerships with companies
that did not have Air Operator Certificates (AOC).
Our partners are KalStar, operating in East Kalimantan with a base in
Serpong (Banten) and TransNusa Air, operating in East Nusa Tenggara with a
base in Kupang. These companies have assigned Trigana to fly passengers
using our aircraft.
In this case, Trigana does not have to worry about load factor because
Trigana does not issue tickets. They have agreed to pay Trigana a certain
amount of money no matter the number of passengers served.
Soon TransNusa and Trigana are going to begin operating our first Boeing
planes. Now we are operating aircraft such as the ATR, F-27, Caribou and
Twin Otter serving places such as Nabire, Sentani and Wamena in Papua,
Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara, Balikpapan, Tarakan and Pontianak in
Kalimantan as well as to Ambon.
What is your strategy to survive the competition?
We specialize in serving passengers and carrying cargo to remote areas
instead of provincial hubs. All the hub routes have already been taken by
Garuda, Batavia Air, Adam Air and other big carriers.
We don't have a base in Jakarta because of the specialization. Passengers
can reach big cities with bigger airlines and proceed to smaller places
with Trigana. It is a promising business if we execute everything
correctly.
After the Asian financial crisis back in the late 1990s, we could only
lease and purchase second-hand aircraft with emphasis on maintenance.
Our assets have cost us a huge amount of money. If I had a chance now to
start this business again from scratch, I do not think I could do it
considering the competition and enormous financial capital required.
As for our crew, changing careers is fine with me, as long as they retain
their aviation prowess they built and reputation once they move to other
companies.
How is the competition now?
The competition for main hubs right now is quite fierce. Many carriers
issue tickets lower than the prices stipulated by air transportation
directorate general.
Furthermore, the building of infrastructure is mandatory now for every new
airline. For example, a carrier has to build a facility in each airport
supporting its airplanes. We choose to be in feeder services because we do
not have to compete in prices. We do not want to compromise on prices
related to safety.
The profit that we earn goes directly to improving the safety of our
flights and investing on incoming aircraft. We are talking about human
lives here, so safety is of paramount concern and remains our biggest
challenge.
Do you have any direct competitors?
Airlines operating on the same level with us in eastern sections are
Merpati and Airfast Service Indonesia. However, we don't position
ourselves as Merpati's competitor. Our relationship is more like assisting
each other if a problem occurs. For example, if we cannot operate our
aircraft to somewhere, Merpati will cover our place and vice versa. Under
the national program, we should develop those areas together.
What is Trigana's key to staying in business?
The key is to keep operating most of our aircraft because down time or
idle planes will mean bigger expenses for us than flying them. We just do
our best to serve our customers and keep their trust to continue flying
with us. Basically, we rely on simple word-of-mouth marketing.
Do you have a favorite story relating to your career so far?
There was an incident once in Papua. One of our planes accidentally ran
off the landing strip. There were no victims. Afterward, local people who
witnessed the incident, came to our pilots with tears running down their
faces. Then one of our pilots asked, "Why are you crying?" One replied
that on behalf of the whole community, they would be very saddened if a
Trigana plane had an accident or crashed anywhere. "Because if the plane
could not reach us anymore, then what were we going to eat?" he said.
At that moment I realized that we are actually doing something worthwhile
for the community -- a sort of a social function. This background makes us
work harder to stay on the scene and deliver the goods.
via KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com - 21.03.2006
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Photos aus aller Welt, Schwerpunkt Indonesien
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