New Chapter for Anjani Air Service

[dwibowo83]

Jakarta - Indonesia It has been less than two years since Anjani Air Service's new CEO took over the company. Nicknamed "The Young Boss", the new CEO is the youngest of the three sons of the Chairman. When taking over the company, little was expected from him. Initially, it was speculated that the second son of the Chairman would be taking over Anjani Air Service (AAS). However, it turned out that the second son was taking over the family's hotel company, which operates in Indonesia and 30 other countries through its five different brands. Meanwhile, the first son was already managing the family's Bank, which holds a significant presence in South East Asia and East Asia.

Since early 1980, the airline was bleeding heavily due to rising fuel costs and inefficient operations. Since then, unprofitable routes have been shut down. Older, inefficient planes such as Vickers VC-10, which at one point were the pride of AAS, were also taken out of service. There are no more routes to Europe, North America, Africa, Oceania, and the Middle East. Almost half of the routes to East Asia and South Asia were shut down. AAS networks have been reduced to mainly domestic operations and a few international routes, mainly short and medium-haul service. The fleet modernization plan was also shelved.

However, things don't look as gloomy as they look outside. Since Q3-1981, AAS has been profitable again. It has been a slow but steady recovery for the Indonesian airlines. For the first time in AAS history, wide-body airplanes entered into service. The Airbus A300 was chosen by the airlines to carry that honor. It is the first modern airplane to enter AAS service in years. The CEO was quoted the other day, speaking to the press, as saying, "Airbus will hold a significant role in AAS's future. People who talk about wide-body planes always mention Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas, Lockheed, or even Ilyushin. I beg to differ from them, and Airbus will dominate the industry in the coming years, maybe not in the next five or ten years, but in twenty or thirty years from now. Mark my words!"

Of course, it remains to be seen if that will happen, and as of now, there are many doubts that Airbus will be ahead of the US and USSR-made planes. Regardless of what it is, one thing is sure: AAS passengers can expect increased comfort with the introduction of wide-body airplanes into AAS service.