Garuda mulling reopening routes to Amsterdam and Nagoya

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is considering reopening routes to Amsterdam and Nagoya, and starting a new service to India next year so as to jack up revenue from international flights, which contributed 45 percent of its income in 2006.

Garuda spokesman Pujobroto said the carrier was now studying what needed to be done to improve its services, including the use of newer aircraft and expanding promotion to business passengers.

"We terminated our service to Amsterdam at the end of 2004 because it wasn't competitive and was losing money. Now, we are considering reopening it with improved efficiency and profitability," said Pujobroto on Wednesday.

"Amsterdam is actually a highly prospective market in Europe."

Besides Amsterdam, Garuda also closed its routes to London and Paris in 2004.

It closed its service to Nagoya after the second Bali bombing in 2004 caused a collapse in the number of Japanese passengers, leaving it with only two destinations in Japan -- Tokyo and Osaka.

"As the Japanese market has been showing an improvement, we're studying the possibility of also reopening the route to Nagoya."

Regarding a service to India, he said that Garuda had yet to select a destination in that country.

Besides reopening old routes and establishing new ones, Garuda will also increase the frequency of its flights to a number of existing destinations.

Agus Priyanto, Garuda executive vice president for sales and marketing, said the new and reopened routes would boost the contribution of international services to Garuda's earnings to 50 percent in 2008.

Garuda currently serves 27 domestic and 24 international routes. According to Pujobroto, routes to the Middle East, Japan and Australia are the most profitable of all of the airline's international routes.

Pujobroto said Garuda was targeting a profit of Rp 45 billion (US$5 million) in 2007 after suffering losses for the past three years -- it lost Rp 800 billion in 2004, Rp 688 billion in 2005 and Rp 197 billion in 2006.

During the first four months of this year alone, the flag carrier had made a Rp 121 billion profit, as compared to a loss of Rp 279 billion during the same period last year.

The improved performance, according to Pujobroto, is due to various programs instituted by Garuda, including strengthening its subsidiaries, and improved productivity and efficiency.

Garuda currently operates 49 aircraft, consisting of three Boeing 747-400s, six Airbus 330s, 19 B737-400s, 14 B737-300s, five B737-500s and two B737NGs. It also has 25 B737NGs and 10 B787 Dreamliners on order, which are expected to start flying in 2009.