Garuda Indonesia keeps expanding despite 89% profit slide

27 Mar 2017 13:45:06

asia.nikkei.com

JAKARTA -- Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia will continue expanding despite a lackluster performance last year during which profit dropped by 89%, President Arif Wibowo said on Wednesday.

Garuda posted $8.1 million in net income in 2016, from $76.5 million the year before. Wibowo said the decline was "manageable," and attributed it in part to the company's increased flights on existing routes and the opening of new ones. Garuda last year started connecting Indonesia's resort island, Bali, with a few Chinese cities, and commenced flights to Mumbai.

Its available seat kilometers -- a measure of passenger-carrying capacity -- last year was up by 13%. Wibowo said he expects a similar increase this year.

"First half of 2016 was loss-making due to the expansion," Wibowo said. "[But that] is part of a growth strategy that I must take. In 2017 we'll keep maximizing our capacity growth, by 10-12%."

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