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Government instructs Garuda to build China-Indonesia market to 50%
October 7th 2016
Indonesian minister for state owned enterprises, Rini Sumarno, has asked flag carrier Garuda Indonesia to accelerate its expansion drive and said Jakarta expected the carrier to dominate the domestic market and hold at least a 50% share of markets into Indonesia from China and the Middle East, Garuda CEO, Arif Wibowo, said this week. Read More »
"To dominate the domestic, regional and international markets, Minister Rini Sumarno emphasized the importance of connecting time between flights and adding routes to the existing ones, especially to tourist destinations," Wibowo said.
"We need to be more aggressive in adding narrow body airplanes,” said Wibowo, who pointed out Garuda has 50 B737 MAXs on firm order and another 50 A320s destined for its low-cost subsidiary, Citilink.
The Garuda boss said the airline has a market share of approximately 38% from China and the Middle East, but that this is forecast to increase significantly when the airline switched from the A330 to the larger B777-300ER on most China routes and added hajj services. It will launch Denpasar-Chengdu in January.
Wibowo remained optimistic about the airline’s ability to resume flights to New York and Los Angeles next year after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restores Indonesia’s Category 1 safety rating.
Separately, Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Airbus have signed a long-term agreement to reduce the industry’s impact on the environment. “Based on the industry’s four pillar strategy of sustainable fuels, efficient operations, infrastructure improvements and market-based measures, this long-term partnership will harness the full potential of Airbus’ latest-generation aircraft, together with optimized operations, to minimize fuel burn and noise emissions,” the plane maker said in a statement.
“Indonesia is committed to reducing the impact of aviation on the environment and integrate sustainability into all aspects of its growth,” DGCA director-general, Suprasetyo, commented. “
