Gulf Air, a carrier jointly owned by Oman and Bahrain, launched a new 9-hour Jakarta-Muscat service on Wednesday, saying that it expected a 100 percent load factor during peak season.

Indonesian general manager Hameed Hussain said that he was confident that the load factor would average 80 percent during the low season and 100 percent during peak season, considering that Indonesia was the airline's largest market in Southeast Asia.

"Currently, Indonesia is one of the top 20 largest contributors to our Asia business," he said.

The route will be served by Boeing 767 aircraft -- with Indonesian crew members -- six times a week. Plans are also afoot for daily flights starting next month.

Gulf Air is cooperating with local flag carrier Garuda Indonesia for feeder services to other cities in Indonesia, including Surabaya, Medan and Denpasar.

"We have offices in Jakarta and Surabaya now, and are looking forward to establishing offices in Medan and Denpasar," Hussain said.

He added that Gulf offered onward connections to London, Paris and Frankfurt.

However, the company was not planning to invest in the Indonesian airline business.

Meanwhile, Gulf Air chief executive James Hogan said that the company increased revenue by 10 percent to US$1.4 billion last year, but he refused to say how much profit the company expected to make.

"I cannot say yet whether we made a profit or loss as our costs were heavily influenced by last year's soaring fuel prices," he said.

Although this year would continue to be tough due to persisting fuel price uncertainties, he said the company hoped to increase revenue to $1.5 billion.