Garuda to Buy 11 New Planes This Year

SURABAYA, KOMPAS.com - National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia plans to buy 11 new planes this year with the first delivery expected in February or March. The planes consisted of nine Boeing 737-800s and two Airbus 330-200s, Garuda Indonesia Technical Director Hadinoto Soedigno said here on Thursday.

The nine Boeing 737-800s would be delivered in stages starting February or March, and the two Airbus 330-200s would be delivered in April and October, he said on the sidelines of a roadshow for the airline’s initial public offering. Garuda put orders for the 11 planes two years ago, he said.

He said Garuda which currently has a fleet of 87 planes expects to operate 130-150 planes in the next five years. With the targeted fleet of 130-150 planes in 2015, Garuda would buy a minimum of 10 planes in each of the next five years, he said.

Garuda is expected to list its shares with the Indonesia Stock Exchange on February 11. The company’s chief financial officer Elisa Lumbantoruan said on Wednesday about 80 percent of the proceeds of the IPO would be spent on expanding the airline’s fleet and 20 percent to finance its capital expenditure.

Hadinoto said Garuda would operate its Boeing planes to serve its domestic flights such as Jakarta-Gorontalo via Surabaya and Makassar, Surabaya-Balikpapan, and Surabaya-Ampenan. Meanwhile, the Airbus planes would be used to serve its regional routes which would be opened soon, including Jakarta-Manila and Jakarta-Taiwan, he said.