Indonesian airline Air Paradise has sold a 49 percent stake to an Australian company, the local newspaper Bisnis Indonesia reported Tuesday.

A senior official with the Transport Ministry has confirmed the sale, but no details were made available.

"The process to change the composition of ownership is still ongoing at the Ministry of Justice and Human Right Affairs," Air Transport Director Santoso Edi Wibowo was quoted as saying.

Since it was established in February 2003, the Bali-based Air Paradise has focused on international routes.

But the company suspended operations in the wake of the triple suicide bombings in Bali in October 2005, which caused a significant decline in tourist arrivals in Bali.

Santoso said Air Paradise would serve routes to Sidney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Air Paradise general manager I Putu Oka also confirmed the sale, but he declined to elaborate further.

Source: Xinhua