Garuda Indonesia further adjusts its international network with cuts to Australia and Japan

Garuda Indonesia is reducing capacity across its medium and long-haul networks as the airline group increases its focus on the domestic market. Garuda has now made multiple adjustments to its international expansion plan, which has proven to be overly ambitious.

Capacity to Australia and Japan, Garuda's two largest international markets after Singapore, is being cut as part of a restructuring of its unprofitable international operations. The cuts are a sensible response to overcapacity and intensifying competition but leave an opening for competitors, particularly long-haul low-cost start-up Indonesia AirAsia X.

Garuda will likely allocate almost all of its additional capacity in 2015 to the domestic market. The domestic expansion is partly strategic as Garuda responds to the rapid expansion of Lion Group full service subsidiary Batik Air.