Garuda Indonesia plans to double aircraft fleet by 2013

By Leithen Francis

Garuda Indonesia has unveiled plans to launch new services and dramatically increase the size of its fleet beyond what it has already ordered.

The national carrier says in a statement it has 54 aircraft, of which six are Boeing 737-800s, but by 2013 it hopes to have 128 aircraft including 10 777-300ERs and 50 737-800s.

It already has 10 777-300ERs on order but only has 25 737-800s on order, which suggests Garuda may look to either place an order for more or make up for the shortfall by getting a substantial number of 737-800s on lease.

In today's statement Garuda says it recently launched services on the Yogyakarta-Singapore route and wants to launch services on another 18 domestic and international routes.

It lists the routes as: Jakarta-Tanjungkarang, Jakarta-Malang, Jakarta-Makassar-Kendari, Jakarta-Makassar-Gorontalo, Jakarta-Makassar-Sorong, Jakarta-Makassar-Ambon, Jakarta-Makassar-Palu, Jakarta-Jambi, Jakarta-Manado-Ternate, Jakarta-Balikpapan-Tarakan, Jakarta-Pangkal Pinang, Denpasar-Lombok, Denpasar-Kupang, Denpasar-Adelaide, Denpasar-Hong Kong, Surabaya-Hong Kong and Jakarta-Shanghai-Denpasar-Jakarta.