Garuda Indonesia’s international ambitions set back by London postponement

Garuda Indonesia has postponed by at least six months the launch of services to London, the first of several new non-stop routes in the carrier's ambitious European expansion plan. The postponement is a big blow to the carrier's hopes to boost its position in the global market by using its new flagship aircraft, the 777-300ER, to serve new high profile long-haul routes and start competing in the UK-Australia market.

The postponement also highlights a major potential roadblock in the international expansion of Garuda and further expansion of the overall Indonesian market - infrastructure. Garuda cited runway pavement issues at Jakarta in forcing its decision to push back the planned Nov-2013 launch of Jakarta-London services until May-2014. Indonesia's major airports including Jakarta are operating well above capacity and the government has repeatedly been behind the curve in upgrading infrastructure, including terminals and runways.

Although Garuda has been preparing for its new 777-300ER fleet since ordering 10 of the type in early 2008, Jakarta airport operator Angkasa Pura II has not yet upgraded the airport's runways to support a fully loaded 777-300ER. Garuda now expects the runway to be upgraded by May-2014, allowing the carrier to finally launch non-stop services to Europe.