Garuda Indonesia reroutes flights to European countries

JAKARTA (JP): The country's flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, announced Saturday new direct routes to and from Europe, after slashing the number of stopovers at Abu Dhabi from 16 times a week to only six times a week.

Jansius Siahaan, a spokesman for Garuda, said over the weekend that the new routes -- which will be operated by the airline's B-747-400, B-747-200 and MD-11 aircraft -- will start running on Oct. 28, at the beginning of the winter season, until March 30, 1996.

The six routes, which still include stopovers at Abu Dhabi this winter, are GA-974 (Denpasar-Singapore-Abu Dhabi-Zurich- Paris), GA-804 (Denpasar-Medan-Abu Dhabi-Amsterdam), GA-890 (Jakarta-Singapore-Abu Dhabi-Amsterdam), GA-976 (Denpasar-Abu Dhabi-London), GA-880 (Denpasar-Bangkok-Abu Dhabi-London) and GA- 977 (London-Abu Dhabi-Denpasar).

During this season, Garuda will serve routes from, and to, six cities in Europe, 19 times a week. The cities are Amsterdam and Frankfurt, each served five times a week; Paris, three times a week; and London, Rome and Zurich, each served twice a week.

Siahaan said the cutting back of stopovers at Abu Dhabi is intended to improve the quality of services and to meet the rising demand of consumers.

He said the direct flights will also save operational costs, such as landing fees, which may total up to Rp 1.07 billion (US$476,190) and fuel, up to Rp 24.11 billion a year.

Siahaan said Garuda would also save a considerable amount of money by temporarily suspending flights to Berlin, Munich, Vienna and Madrid starting on Oct. 28. The four cities will, instead, be served by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which is aligned with Garuda.

Siahaan said the rerouting is expected to help improve Garuda's marketing in Europe.

In the previous summer season, Garuda flew 10 European cities -- Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Rome, Zurich, Vienna, Madrid, Berlin and Munich -- 27 times a week.

During that season, Garuda carried 456,610 passengers through 1,622 flights, with an average load factor of 72.17 percent. (pwn)