Garuda Indonesia plans more rapid expansion for 2014 and beyond despite intensifying competition

Garuda Indonesia plans to again expand at a 20% clip in 2014 as the airline group adds another 26 aircraft. While competition is intensifying in Indonesia and regionally, Garuda is confident there is sufficient demand to continue supporting rapid expansion in 2014 and over the medium to long term.

The group has expanded capacity by about 20% in 2013, with international ASKs up by about 11% and domestic ASKs up by over 30%, driven primarily by budget subsidiary Citilink. Garuda plans to pursue a similar mix of domestic and international expansion in 2014.

On the international side, 2014 will see the carrier launch its first non-stop route to Europe, Jakarta-London. Garuda is not likely to launch other new European destinations until 2015 but capacity will expand to North Asia as Garuda is mainly using its new 777-300ER fleet on Japanese routes. Domestically, Citilink will continue to grow rapidly while Garuda will expand as it starts to deploy its new fleet of ATR 72 turboprops.