Flying into Jakarta this afternoon I noticed the two old Jatayu Airlines Boeing 727s that have been parked by the side of the runway for a few years (PK-JGT and PK-JGN) had been joined by a Batavia Airlines Fokker F28 (PK-YCM). The F28 – the only one still operated by Batavia Airlines - had some flat tyres, so looks like it was being consigned to the ‘graveyard’ along with the 727s.


Jatayu Airlines had its licence revoked by the Indonesian Government in July for safety breaches (it had actually not been flying for a while before that) and Batavia Airlines has also been threatened with closure for safety breaches. Earlier this month parts of a wing of a Batavia Airlines Boeing 737 fell off in flight after mechanics had made some repairs and forgotten to tighten some bolts. Fortunately they managed to land the plane safely.

At least the F28 looks like it is being retired gracefully, rather than waiting until it falls out of the sky which is not uncommon in Indonesia. PK-YCM first flew on 10 April 1981, so they managed to get about 25 years service out of it.