Garuda plans to fly to India, U.S., Philippines

Garuda plans to fly to India, U.S., Philippines

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia plans to open a new
route to India, and reopen routes to the United States and the
Philippines in the near future, to tap passengers amid growing
business activities between Indonesia and the three particular
countries.

Garuda commercial and marketing director Bachrul Hakim said
that currently the airline was in the process of conducting
feasibility study for the three routes, in order to gain maximum
results in the investment for the routes.

"We are studying the possibility of flying to India, the
United States and the Philippines next year because the
destinations are deemed potential, due to growing business
activities between Indonesia and the three countries," said
Bachrul, after a ceremony to mark a cooperation between the
airline and Bank Danamon on Wednesday.

Bachrul explained that Garuda was eyeing four cities in India
for its maiden flight, including New Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and
Madras, and Manila for the Philippines. As for the United States,
the airline had yet to decide the city, possibly Honolulu, Los
Angeles or New York.

"We are still studying whether the passenger load for the
routes can consistently maintain 60 percent per flight, at least,
for Garuda to feasibly serve them," he said.

Garuda once flew to the United States, stopping at Honolulu
and Los Angeles. However, the airline scrapped the flight in 1994
due to the low passenger load factor, causing losses for the
airline.

For the same cause, Garuda also stopped serving the route to
Manila in 1998.

Garuda spokesman Pudjobroto said the airline would not need to
gain licenses to start serving the routes, since Indonesia had
already signed agreements with the three countries for the
commercial flight licenses.

"The licenses are already available with the three countries.
But for the United States, we still need licenses from other
countries, such as Japan, for the stopover because its a long
flight," said Pudjobroto.

Garuda's current fleet comprises 54 aircraft serving 21
domestic and 22 international destinations. International
operations account for 55 percent of Garuda's revenue, while
domestic operations account for 45 percent.

Elsewhere, regarding Garuda's preparation to anticipate a boom
in passengers during Idul Fitri, Christmas and New Year holidays
in November and December, Pudjobroto said the airline would
increase its loading capacity by between 20 percent and 30
percent.

The additional flights will be allocated for hectic domestic
routes, such as between Jakarta and Solo, Yogyakarta, Surabaya,
Denpasar, Padang and Palembang. As for international
destinations, the airline will provide extra flights to routes
between Jakarta and Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong.

Garuda has set the peak season for Idul Fitri holidays --
which falls on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 -- from Nov. 11 until Nov. 22,
while for Christmas and New Year holidays from Dec. 22 until Jan.
3, 2005.