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PT GARUDA Indonesia Tbk., as of August 2021, it only operates 11 international destinations with the main focus on cargo flights. Based on Garuda Indonesia Cargo document Number 019/JKTGCS/VI/2021, Monday (8/2), the 11 international flights operated are Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Sydney, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Netherlands, and Jeddah.
These routes will be served by wide body aircraft, freighters, and operate flights. The route to Bangkok will operate freighters in addition to wide body, then to Hong Kong will operate freighters and cargo flights. Previously, the state-owned airline confirmed to stop international routes to and from Perth and Melbourne starting next month after reviewing that both routes were unprofitable.
President Director of Garuda Indonesia Irfan Setiaputra confirmed that currently there are a number of international routes that will be terminated due to losses, but there are also routes that are still maintained because they have potential.
Garuda Indonesia flies international routes with priority cargo flights because the majority of countries close their borders. Garuda mostly fills its planes with cargo and instead carries passengers with limited capacity and specifically serves repatriation of both Indonesian citizens and foreign citizens who must return.
“In the future, we see that we may not be profitable because of the conditions and it is impossible for us to load the cargo, we will stop [the flight]. Like Melbourne, Perth from next month we will stop. We have stopped Osaka. One flight to the Australian continent that we still maintain is Sydney,” he said.
He explained that the route to Sydney remained open even though the frequency was reduced to once a week to maintain at least connectivity. Currently, the Kangaroo country has tightened the movement of people to enter the country.
In fact, Irfan previously mentioned that the authority of the green continent only allowed a maximum of 50 people to enter his country. On the other hand, there are no restrictions for flights out of Australia.
However, Garuda Indonesia is still able to reap profits from its 3 international routes, namely Bangkok, Hong Kong, and China in the midst of plans to close international routes that make losses.
Irfan sees that there are still international routes that generate significant revenue for Garuda. He said these routes are profitable because of the high demand for rental or charter services.
“What is fortunate is that at this time [the route] is Bangkok, Hong Kong, China. Especially because China has a lot of charters/rents. So, regarding these international routes, we will indeed stop them because of losses. It’s just that there are some routes that we are still maintaining even though they are currently losing, but there is potential for profit,” he concluded. [bisnis.com/photo special]
