Garuda's haj armada shrinks to six planes

JAKARTA (JP): National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has said it will deploy a fleet of only six planes to transport 42,500 Indonesian haj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia starting Feb. 24, down from the 26 aircraft operated for last year's haj season.

Garuda spokesman Pudjobroto told The Jakarta Post on Thursday the ailing airline would operate three Boeing B747-200s and three Boeing B767s to transport 42,500 pilgrims out of the 71,300 total during the haj season, which begins on Feb. 20 and ends on March 28.

"We will have a smaller fleet this year," Pudjobroto said in his office here.

Saudi Airlines will transport the remaining 28,800 pilgrims to Mecca, he said.

It will be the first time for Saudi Airlines to serve Indonesian pilgrims. In the past although Saudi Airlines was entitled to serve the Indonesia-Saudi Arabia route, Garuda remained the sole carrier of Indonesian pilgrims to Mecca, raking in significant profits during the season.

The three B747-200s are Garuda's own aircraft, which would be sold by the airline after the haj season, while the B767 aircraft would be chartered for the pilgrimage month only.

The sharp increase in airfares following the sharp drop in the rupiah against the U.S. dollar has discouraged many Moslems from making their haj pilgrimage this year.

The rupiah has lost nearly 75 percent of its value against the American greenback since the monetary crisis hit the country in July, 1997, causing more than a doubling in most dollar-based prices.

Last year Garuda deployed 26 jets to transport the 202,300 pilgrims. Nine of the aircraft were owned by the airline, and the remaining 17 were chartered for pilgrimage purposes.

Garuda is currently trimming its fleets as part of a major operating and financial overhaul.

It operates 40 aircraft and owns an additional five B747-200s and eight Airbus 334s, all of which are currently up for sale.

Pudjo said Garuda would carry the pilgrims from Solo (Central Java) on Feb. 24, Ujungpandang (South Sulawesi) on Feb. 25, Balikpapan (East Kalimantan) and Jakarta on Feb. 28 with the last group flying from Medan (North Sumatra) on March 1.

The pilgrims from Ujungpandang and Solo will be carried on the B-767s, which can seat 344 people. The remaining pilgrims will fly by the 480-seater B747-200s, he said. (das)