Garuda back to Fokker-28 for new domestic routes

Garuda back to Fokker-28 for new domestic routes

JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned airline Garuda Indonesia will
soon resume operating its aging Fokker-28 aircraft to serve new
domestic routes being prepared by the government.

The airline's president, Wage Mulyono, said during a break in
a hearing with Commission V of the House of Representatives (DPR)
yesterday that operating the F-28s will also help Garuda increase
its domestic load factor.

The hearing with the commission, which is in charge of
transportation, tourism and public works, was also attended by
executives of Merpati Nusantara, a subsidiary of Garuda.

"Garuda, which operates wide-body aircraft for domestic
services, suffered losses from its domestic services in the first
six months of this year due to low utilization of its seat
capacity," Wage said, adding that the load factors decreased to
40 percent in the January-June period from 55 percent last year.

"The market is currently over capacity. The government, in the
meantime, is soon expected to announce 24 new domestic routes in
addition to the 12 other new domestic routes set earlier," he
said.

He said the Ministry of Transportation will authorize Garuda
to operate the F-28s later this year.

The carrier currently serves Jakarta, Surakarta in Central
Java, Yogyakarta, Surabaya in East Java, Manado in North
Sulawesi, Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi, Medan in North Sumatra,
Denpasar in Bali, Biak and Jayapura in Irian Jaya, Banda Aceh in
Aceh, Balikpapan in East Kalimantan and Batam in Riau.

Rising

"By operating F-28s once again, we expect that our domestic
load factors will rise back to 55 percent," he said.

Garuda had previously planned to sell 14 aging F-28s to
foreign companies.

The company currently operates a fleet of 55 aircraft, which
consist of two Boeing 747-400s, six B747-200s, one B747-200B,
eight B737-300s, seven B737-400s, nine Airbus 300-B4s, 10 A300-
600s, six MD-11s and six DC10-30s.

Wage, who refused to specify the amount of Garuda's losses
from its domestic services, said that the airline, however, still
gained profits from its international services.

Garuda serves 40 international destinations.

Garuda's finance director, Jazid Adam, said that the airline
gained a total non-audited profit of Rp 136.3 billion (US$62.58
million) in the first six months of this year, of which Rp 21.2
billion was collected from PT Aerowisata, an affiliated catering
company.

Garuda's total profit is estimated to increase by 90 percent
to Rp 249 billion this year from last year's profit of Rp 34.1
billion, he said.

Jazid also said that Garuda has a total debt of $615 million
for the procurement of seven B737-400s and two B747-400s, which
will be repaid wholly by the company.

Merpati

Meanwhile, Merpati's president, Ridwan Fataruddin, told the
commission that his company has suffered operational deficits the
last few years.

Ridwan refused to disclose the amount of his company's total
losses, saying that "it's unethical to disclose the losses here."

Merpati's finance director, Syarifuddin Itoerudin, said
recently that the company expects to gain a total revenue of Rp
600 billion (US$275.86 million) this year, some 10 percent higher
than last year.

Merpati currently serves 182 routes, including six flights to
Singapore. The company owns 87 aircraft, but only 76 of them are
operating.

The company's director of operations, Amin Kahar, said that
because Merpati operates many Canadian-made Twin Otters on it's
Irian Jaya routes, the aircraft's manufacturer plans to open a
spare parts shop there.

"The manufacturer will soon submit an application to the
government about the plan," he said. (icn)