Regional French airline Britair, under pressure to reduce its workforce, is asking pilots if they want to work temporarily in Indonesia, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

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"We are consulting pilots to see if they are interested before possibly looking into missions with Garuda," the Indonesian flag carrier, the spokeswoman said. "We are still at the project stage."

Garuda, which is to take delivery of 100-seat CRJ1000 regional aircraft built by the Canadian company Bombardier, needs pilots trained to fly them and has spoken with carriers that might be able to help. Britair, which is owned by the Air France-KLM group, is one such airline.

The parent group has launched a deep restructuring programme and seeks to eliminate 5,000 positions, including 450 pilots jobs, without firing anyone if
possible.

Indonesia is comprised of thousands of inhabited islands and its economy is growing, making for a marked increase in air travel.

But the country is also rated category 2 on the International Aviation Safety Assessments Program established by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which means it does not meet standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization.