Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia plans to raise its cargo revenue by launching more international flights before the year ends.
The airline will be introducing new routes or adding frequencies to a number of foreign destinations, said a report from Antara News.
“We should explore international markets and also enlarge our cargo capacity on overseas flights,” said Arif Wibowo, company president director of Garuda.
To this end, Arif said the Jakarta-Medina (Saudi Arabia) flight will be available in December 2016, and the Surabaya-Medina route will likewise be opened.
Meantime, an international flight to China on the Denpasar-Chengdu route is slated to open in January 2017.
To support its flight expansion plans, Garuda will provide 50 units of Boeing 737 MAX, while its subsidiary, Citilink, will deploy a similar number of Airbus A320 aircraft.
The executive said that by the end of this year, they expect revenue to grow to US$25 million a month from its expanded cargo service.
“Currently, the average income from cargo per month is US$21 million. Business cargo, mainly catering to the international market, will continue to support the company’s revenue stream,” Arif said.
He said the largest share of cargo business for Garuda currently comes from China, reaching about 20 tons per day from flights to Canton and Shanghai.
The cargo load from its Tokyo and South Korea flights is about 20 tons per day, and from Europe, around 14 to 15 tons per day.
Latest distribution hub
Besides this, Garuda Indonesia has reportedly opened a new cargo service center (CSC) in Karawaci, Tangerang, aimed at meeting demand for freight forwarding and hastening cargo distribution.
The latest facility is the fourth for Garuda Indonesia Cargo, following those at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, BSD City, and another one in Tangerang.
Garuda Indonesia currently has 70 cargo distribution facilities, comprised of 46 CSC offices in airports and 24 CSC offices in business districts, operated by either its subsidiaries or business partners.
Photo by Gunawan Kartapranata
