Indonesia's 2011 airline passengers up by 15 pct

The number of airline passengers in Indonesia last year rose by 15 percent to 66 million, indicating a growing demand in the Southeast Asia's largest economy, a local paper said here Wednesday. The Transportation Ministry's director for air transportation, Djoko Murjatmodjo, said that number of domestic and international travelers totaled 58.84 million and 7.2 million in 2011, the Jakarta Post reported. "The data indicates strong economic growth in Indonesia as well as a strong domestic-airline market," Djoko said. Bambang Ervan, the ministry's spokesman, said that the economic downturn in Europe would not impact Indonesia's airline business because the Asian market remained promising. "National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, for instance, has announced it will open new routes to Tokyo through Haneda and Taipei this year, even though they have reduced their Amsterdam flights," Bambang said.