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PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines, operating as Merpati Nusantara Airlines, was an airline in Indonesia based in Central Jakarta, Jakarta. It was a major domestic airline operating scheduled services to more than 25 destinations in Indonesia, as well as scheduled international services to East Timor and Malaysia. Its main base was Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta. The word ''merpati'' is Indonesian for "dove", and Nusantara is a Javanese word found in the ''Pararaton'' ("the Book of Kings", probably written in the 16th century) and meaning "the outer islands" and now referring to the Indonesian archipelago. Merpati is also listed in category 1 by Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority for airline safety quality and plans to get IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) from International Air Transport Association. It had a maintenance facility based at Juanda International Airport, Surabaya as well as a simulator facility at the Merpati Training Centre in Surabaya which housed a Fokker F-27, AVIC MA60 and CN-235 full motion simulators. Merpati suspended all services in early February 2014 due to cashflow problems, including an inability to obtain fuel on credit, obliging the company to pay cash. On July 24 2014 it was reported that the Indonesian Ministry of Finance had decided not to reopen the company following the airlines' accumulating a debt of 7.9 trillion Rp, as well as the failure of a debt-to-equity-swap plan proposed by the company. ==History== The airline was established and started operations on 6 September 1962. It was set up by the Indonesian government as the second state airline, with the main objective of taking over the network of domestic services developed by the Air Force since 1958. During 1962, it also took over the routes in West Irian (formerly Dutch New Guinea) previously operated by KLM subsidiary, De Kroonduif, which had been flown by Garuda since 1962. With a start up capital of 10 million rupiah, Merpati began operations in Kalimantan, using a fleet of four de Havilland Otter/DHC-3s and two DC-3 Dakotas provided by the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU). Pilots and technicians were supplied by the Indonesian Air Force, Garuda Indonesia Airways and other civil aviation companies. Its mission, defined by the government, was to become an 'air bridge' linking remote areas of Indonesia and thereby helping to build the economies of such regional areas. The air bridge theme is the basis of the current Merpati logo, displayed on the tails of its aircraft. The first Managing Director appointed was Air Commodore Sutoyo Adiputro Henk (1962–1966) who had an initial staff of 17 people. In 1963, the airline expanded its routes to include Jakarta - Tanjung Karang (Bandar Lampung), Jakarta - Semarang, and Jakarta - Balikpapan. In 1964, the airline took over operations from NV de Kroonduif Garuda, increasing its aircraft fleet to 12. With the addition of three DC-3 Dakotas, two DHC-6 Twin Otters and 1 DHC-2 Beaver, Merpati began to grow, with operations now reaching Sumatra, Papua and Nusa Tenggara Barat. Further expansion saw the addition of more aircraft, including three Dornier DO-28s and six Pilatus Porter PC-6s, and staff numbers growing to 583 people. In October 1978, the airline was taken over by Garuda, but continued to operate under its own name. Merpati was integrated into the Garuda Indonesia Group in September 1989, but was granted government permission to separate in 1993, although the split did not actually take place until April 1997. The airline was jointly owned by the Indonesian Government (93.2%) and Garuda Indonesia (6.8%). In June 2011, the Merpati commercial director stated that the airline was opening a tender for 15 jet airliners, including 40 aircraft with a capacity of 50 passengers and 20 additional aircraft carrying 20 passengers, such as the MA-60, the NC-212 or DHC-6 Twin Otter.〔http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/06/11/merpati-relies-ma60-be-‘bridge-archipelago’.html〕 The following month, with the airline suffering from financial difficulties, the government and the legislature agreed to provide a capital injection of Rp.516 billion ($60.7 million) to Merpati Nusantara Airlines in the 2012 state budget.〔()〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Merpati Nusantara Airlines」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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