Garuda Indonesia to operate 18 new routes in 2009
Friday, 30 January 2009
Continuing with business development measures, in 2009 Garuda Indonesia will operate at least 18 new routes in both the domestic and regional sectors, while the arrival of 14 new B 737 NGs (New Generation) starting in mid 2009 will help to realize the airline’s network expansion plans.
The proposed routes are as follows:
1. Jakarta - Tanjungkarang (Lampung)
2. Jakarta - Malang (East Java)
3. Jakarta – Makassar – Kendari (Southeast Sulawesi)
4. Jakarta – Makassar – Gorontalo
5. Jakarta – Makassar – Sorong (Papua)
6. Jakarta – Makassar – Ambon
7. Jakarta – Makassar – Palu (Central Sulawesi)
8. Jakarta - Jambi (Jambi)
9. Jakarta - Manado – Ternate (Southeast Maluku)
10. Jakarta - Balikpapan – Tarakan
11. Jakarta – Pangkal Pinang
12. Denpasar – Lombok (West Nusa Tenggara)
13. Denpasar – Kupang (East Nusa Tenggara)
14. Denpasar – Adelaide (Australia)
15. Denpasar – Hongkong
16. Surabaya – Hongkong
17. Jakarta – Shanghai (China) – Denpasar – Jakarta
18. Yogyakarta – Singapore.
While some of the routes are ‘new services’, others are ‘old routes’ that will be re-opened in stages.
For the Yogyakarta – Singapore route, Garuda Indonesia began services on December 16, 2008 flying three times a week, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Meanwhile, with the increase of Chinese tourists to the country, Garuda Indonesia changed its Jakarta – Shanghai – Jakarta service to Jakarta – Shanghai – Denpasar – Jakarta, effective from December 20, 2008, thus enabling travelers from China to fly direct to Denpasar.
Other routes, such as Jakarta – Tanjungkarang, Jakarta – Malang, and Jakarta – Makassar – Kendari in the domestic sector and international flights from Surabaya to Hongkong and Denpasar to Hongkong will be opened in mid January 2009 and served seven times a week.
Garuda Indonesia President & CEO, Emirsyah Satar explained that by 2013 Garuda Indonesia’s aircraft fleet is expected to grow by threefold with a total of 128 aircraft, thanks to new fleet additions comprising 50 B 737NGs and 10 B 777-300ERs, and arriving in 2009, as well as the ongoing aircraft revitalization measures that will gradually replace old aircraft with more sophisticated and efficient ones. At present, Garuda Indonesia operates 54 modern jet aircraft, consisting of three wide body B 747-400 aircraft, six A-330s, and six Boeing 737 NGs, as well as 39 narrow body aircraft of the Boeing 737 series. “Backed by 128 aircraft, in 2013 Garuda Indonesia will make a “quantum leap” into the future”, Emirsyah further added.
Meanwhile, to accommodate the rising flow of travelers during the long Christmas and New Year holidays which extends from December 22, 2008 until January 04, 2009, Garuda Indonesia has increased its seating capacity to over 29 thousand seats to various destinations, such as Jakarta – Denpasar (18.650 seats) , Jakarta – Makassar (1.248 seats), Jakarta – Singapore (1.024 seats), Jakarta – Hongkong (3.516 seats), Denpasar – Singapore (898 seats), and Denpasar – Surabaya (854 seats).
During the recent Christmas holidays (December 22 – 27, 2008), Garuda Indonesia achieved 85% to 95% in seat load factor. The flow of returning travelers from January 1 till January 5, 2008 also experienced a rise of up to 95% with services to several destination cities, such as Denpasar, Medan, and Yogyakarta experiencing a super peak in passenger flow.
Source [1]