GARUDA Indonesia’s ongoing fleet expansion (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 13) has allowed the carrier to increase frequencies and launch new services on both domestic and international routes.

Garuda president and CEO, Emirsyah Satar, said: “Garuda received 24 new aircraft last year, comprising B737-800NGs and Airbus A330-200s.”

“This year, we will add a total of 11 new aircraft, comprising nine B737-800NGs and two A330-200s, which will enable us to further expand our services.”

On June 1, Garuda will hike its Denpasar-Seoul services from three to five times weekly, and double its Jakarta-Bangkok flights to twice daily. The carrier is planning to start Jakarta-Taipei services in November.

On the domestic front, the airline is increasing services on its Jakarta-Surabaya route from 15 to 16 flights daily, Surabaya-Denpasar from three to four flights daily, and Jogjakarta-Denpasar from two to three flights daily.

Additional domestic routes slated to launch this year are Balikpapan-Surabaya and Makassar-Jogjakarta.

The airline is also planning to open Makassar as its third hub after Jakarta and Bali. Its opening as a hub will see additional routes from Makassar to cities in the eastern part of Indonesia, as well as Jakarta and Bali.