News
Garuda posts first half loss and Soekarno-Hatta opens new terminal
August 12th 2016
Garuda Indonesia has posted a $63.2 million net loss for the six months ended June 30, reversing a $29.3 million profit in the year-ago period. Group revenues during the first half were down 4.1% year-on-year, despite a 4.4% growth in passenger numbers, resulting in a significant 10.2% yield decline. Read More »
Year-to-date, Garuda’s overall international capacity grew 19.3%, outstripping the 10.1% increase in passenger boardings. Specifically, capacity to Europe (Amsterdam and London) was up 70.7% year-on-year, followed by the Middle East (40.5%) and China (38.5%).
Garuda’s international passenger business has fared better than its domestic business.
On the domestic front, group capacity grew 9.1%, although this was largely due to an expansion at budget subsidiary, Citilink. Mainline Garuda domestic capacity rose 2%, but passenger boardings decreased 3% at the same time. Citilink posted a net loss of $21.3 million during the first half.
Garuda has now received all its ten on-order B777-300ERs, but still has problems filling the aircraft. Orient Aviation understands that on flights to Amsterdam and London, the first class cabin frequently remains empty, while the business cabin achieves loads over 50%.
In April, Garuda confirmed an order for 14 A330-900neos, which will be delivered from 2019. It plans to use the A330neo to develop its medium- and long-haul network. Meanwhile, the SkyTeam member is yet to decide whether to action letters of intent for 30 A350s or 30 B787s.
In good news for Garuda, speaking to Antara, Muhammad Alwi, director of airworthiness and aircraft operations at Indonesia's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said the archipelago has been given unofficial confirmation that it has been awarded Category 1 status under the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA’s) International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme.
The flag carrier has repeatedly said it wants to resume service to the U.S. as soon as FAA Category 1 is restored. Specifically, Garuda chief, Arif Wibowo, said he wants to use Tokyo’s Narita as the stopover point for services from Jakarta to Los Angeles and New York City, respectively.
Fortunately, Garuda now has the terminal capacity at its Jakarta hub to support such plans. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's Terminal 3 Ultimate was officially opened to the public on Tuesday morning. For the time being, the new facility will host the majority of Garuda’s domestic flights, before gradually opening for international services from March.
In the first phase, Terminal 3 can handle some 12 million passengers per year. After completion of the full project at the end of first-quarter 2017, this figure should rise to 25 million. This means that Soekarno-Hatta’s total annual capacity rose from 55 million in 2015 to 70 million now. It will further grow to an annual capacity of 80 million passengers once renovations at terminals 1 and 2 are completed.
Airport operator Angkasa Pura II also plans to develop a fourth terminal and a third runway. The land acquisition process for this is expected to start in 2018, while completion could be realized in 2021 if no major obstacles occur.
