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FUEL COSTS and aircraft maintenance continue to dominate the operational burden of two airlines, PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk and PT AirAsia Indonesia Tbk. Both financial statements show an increase in each load segment through 2024.
Garuda, for example, the burden of aircraft maintenance is said to have made this national airline temporarily stopped the operation of 15 aircraft, including PT Citilink Indonesia. According to Bloomberg, Garuda Indonesia has been struggling to pay aircraft maintenance costs, as well as several spare parts suppliers who have demanded advance payments, fearing Garuda Indonesia’s financial performance.
According to the latest data from Cirium, the airline fleet tracking agency, Garuda has 66 aircraft in operation and 14 aircraft in storage status.
Maintenance costs are said to be quite high as the majority of Garuda’s fleet is used for short-haul flights, which technically have a higher flight treatment cost or flight cycle. This is due to the higher level of wear and tear.
The aircraft maintenance schedule is generally based on the number of take-off and landing cycles, not on the length of time in service.
Looking at Garuda Indonesia’s financial statements throughout 2024, the maintenance and AVTUR segment has indeed become the largest contributor to the business burden. GIAA recorded an 18.31% increase in operating expenses from US$2.62 billion to US$3.10 billion. The biggest burden was contributed by flight operating expenses including Avtur of US$1.66 billion, higher than 2023 of US$2.37 billion.
Then the biggest business burden is also a maintenance and repair burden of US$536.95 million, up from 2023, which amounted to US$3.86 million. Garuda’s revenue was also recorded up to US$3.41 billion compared to the same period last year which was recorded at US$2.93 billion.
As a result, Garuda Indonesia actually recorded a loss of US$72.70 million or around IDR1.17 trillion (exchange rate of IDR16,154) in 2024. Whereas in 2023, Garuda Indonesia managed to record a profit of US$250.64 million.
Similarly, AirAsia Indonesia also experienced an increase in operating expenses by 17.53% to around Rp8.73 trillion throughout 2024 compared to the previous year which was recorded at IDR7.43 trillion.
The largest operating expense is contributed by fuel which reaches IDR3.44 trillion, higher than the previous year which was recorded at IDR3.19 trillion. Aircraft repair and maintenance is the second largest contributor to operating expenses at IDR1.65 trillion.
The increase in operating expenses was also followed by the growth in business revenues throughout 2024. AirAsia recorded around IDR7.94 trillion as income, 19.90% higher than 2023 which was recorded at IDR6.62 trillion.
Although balanced with an increase in revenue, AirAsia actually recorded a swelling of the current year’s loss that could be attributed to the owner of the parent company by 41.25% to IDR1.52 trillion from the previous IDR1.08 trillion. [bisnis.com/photo special]
