Garuda Indonesia to operate CRJ1000 fleet on regional services

Garuda Indonesia announced (15-Oct-2012) plans to operate its fleet of Bombardier CRJ1000 aircraft based at Makassar on regional routes in Indonesia. As previously reported by CAPA, the airline took delivery of its first of 18 96-seat CRJ1000 aircraft on 10-Oct-2012. Indonesian Minister of Transport EE Mangindaan said, "Operating from the Makassar hub to serve cities in Indonesia's eastern regions will ultimately increase connectivity between cities in the region and with other regions in the country. This effort will certainly accelerate development in the region in line with the the government's Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development Masterplan 2011-2025 (MP3EI), especially the Sulawesi Economic Corridor". Garuda Indonesia president and CEO Emirsyah Satar said the airline's operation of the CRJ1000 aircraft is part of the airline's Quantum Leap programme under which the airline plans to increase its fleet from 94 to 194 aircraft by 2015 and increase its annual traffic from 17.1 million passengers to 45.4 million passengers annually. [more - original PR]