Garuda Indonesia Continues Transformation

The launch of the “Nature’s Wing” livery on Garuda Indonesia’s new Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 737-800NG (Next Generation) aircraft coincided with the opening of its new headquarters building near Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Thursday by Indonesia’s President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Garuda managed to report a net profit of IDR669 billion (US$65.2 million) in 2008, despite negative press, perceptions and the severe economic conditions affecting the global airline industry.

Garuda Indonesia CEO, Emirsyah Satar, said, “We have made enormous progress over the last four years, which is starting to show through in our financial results, but this is only the beginning. The introduction of our new fleet, new product, a corporate identity brand refresh and a new service concept, the ‘Garuda Indonesia Experience’, marks the next stage in the transformation of Garuda Indonesia as we move towards our vision of becoming one of the most successful and profitable airlines in Asia.”

The introduction of the A330-200s and Boeing 737-800NGs is part of a plan to more than double the Garuda Indonesia fleet to 116 aircraft over the next five years, based primarily on the Boeing 737-800NG on short and medium-range services and the A330-200 for medium and long-haul routes.

The airline will also introduce 10 Boeing 777-300ERs on new ultra long-range flights starting in 2011 as its international network expands. The number of international departures will increase by more than 300% to 1,222 per week by 2014.

The Boeing 737-800NGs and A330-200s both feature Garuda Indonesia’s new signature interior, with individual touch-screen LCD TVs throughout Executive and Economy Classes with Video on Demand (VOD) entertainment systems offering 25 feature films and 250 audio tracks. The A330-200s will also feature full lie-flat beds in Executive Class with 74-inch seat pitch.

Agus Priyanto, Executive Vice President, Commercial, Garuda Indonesia, said, “From August onwards, we will be using our new A330-200s to open nonstop services from Jakarta-Sydney and Jakarta-Melbourne, which will offer travellers from Australia an alternative gateway to Asia. We will also launch nonstop flights from Jakarta-Tokyo in October. In the longer-term, we’re planning to return to Europe next year. Our target is to achieve a five-star Skytrax rating by 2014.”

Garuda Indonesia received its IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification in May 2008, recognising that the airline is fully compliant with global “best-practice” standards for flight operations, aircraft maintenance and safety management systems.

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