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Garuda is optimistic about growth in India despite tough competition and high operating costs.
The national airline of Indonesia launched a one-stop service between Mumbai and Jakarta earlier this week. This is the only direct flight between India and Indonesia. The airline flies a Boeing 737 on the route.
“We are optimistic about the Indian market and see demand from both leisure and business segments. We expect eight per cent growth,” Garuda’s CEO M Arif Wibowo told Business Standard.
Last year, 300,000 Indians visited Indonesia and about a third of them flew from Mumbai. Around 45,000 passengers travelled to Jakarta and 55,000 flew to Bali, a popular holiday destination. In the absence of a non-stop connection, Indian passengers transit via Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. Garuda will face competition from Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines, which carry a large share of traffic on India-Southeast Asia routes and beyond to Australia. "We have a strong position in the India-Indonesia market and we are a strong brand," Wibowo said. Garuda is a member of the Air France-led airline alliance SkyTeam.
Wibowo said the airline would consider increasing flights to Mumbai and opening a new route to Bali. It is in talks with Jet Airways to expand their codeshare pact to offer better onward connections to Australia.
The launch of the direct flight is expected to boost Indian visitor arrivals in Indonesia to 1 million by 2019. Garuda is also launching a service between Bangkok and Bali in the next three months to allow additional connections for Indian passengers.
