Garuda Indonesia 777-3U3(ER) (29148/1203) PK-GIF arrives at London-Gatwick (LGW/EGKK) on its inaugural flight, September 8, 2014.
(Photo by James Mepsted)
Garuda Indonesia has re-launched services between Jakarta and London Gatwick and is aiming to boost frequencies to daily by next summer.
The new 5X-weekly route, which launched Sept. 8, will operate as an onward service from Amsterdam. It will be served by a Garuda Boeing 777-300ER, configured with 314 seats in a three-class layout.
“We hope by next summer we will be able to offer daily, nonstop flights,” Garuda Indonesia UK GM Jubi Prasetyo told ATW during an event at London’s Gatwick Airport to mark the route launch. “If we get a good response, we will launch other European destinations.”
London is the second European city on Garuda’s network, joining its Amsterdam service which started in May. The opening of the London link was delayed because of slot constraint issues at Gatwick, but Prasetyo is confident a daily service will be possible.
Gatwick has a maximum capacity of around 45 million passengers per year and it is expecting to handle 38 million passengers in 2014, up from 36.4 million last year.
(Photo by Robbie Shaw)
“We do have capacity left,” London Gatwick CCO Guy Stephenson told ATW, although this is primarily at nonpeak times. “The good thing about airlines coming from places like Indonesia is that they can operate outside peak hours. You mentioned the delay in flights because of the shortage of capacity; if it had gone nonstop, the arrival time wouldn’t be that constrained.”
Indonesia is a rapidly emerging country, projected to be fifth largest economy in the world by 2030. Likewise, air traffic to the country is expected to grow from 105 million in 2010 to more than 358 million by 2025—averaging 8.5% annual growth.
“This route will undoubtedly help increase trade through cargo and tourist numbers,” Indonesian Ambassador to the UK, T.M. Hamzah Thayeb, said at the launch ceremony. In 2012, Indonesia and the UK committed to double trade to £4.4 billion ($7.2 billion) by 2015.
The new route forms part of Garuda’s Quantum Leap 2011-2015 program, a restructuring plan that paved the way for the airline’s SkyTeam membership in May 2014. Garuda serves 60 domestic and international destinations. It currently operates a fleet of 140 aircraft, which it is aiming to grow to 194 by 2015.
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