Indonesia's national carrier Garuda Indonesia plans to reinstate its flights from Kuala Lumpur to Denpasar in Bali and Medan by September 2010, six years after the service was halted.
Joseph Tendean, general manager for Malaysia, said Garuda will use its new 737-800 aircraft to fly daily from Kuala Lumpur to the two destinations.
"We have the landing rights and will apply for a time slot in mid-2010," he said in an interview with Business Times in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Garuda stopped air travel from KL to Denpasar and Medan in 2004 due to poor traffic mainly due to the Bali bombings.
Tendean said Garuda is looking to grow its Malaysian business, which contributes around 3-5 per cent to group net profit and revenue.
Garuda, which made an operating revenue of RM7 billion last year, currently operates one daily flight for its KL-Jakarta-Lombok-Jakarta-KL route.
"Our load factor for the KL-Jakarta-KL route is around 70 per cent. This is an amazing increase from 45 per cent last year when it first started," Tendean said.
The flight to Lombok was introduced on November 1 this year. Garuda is using its 737-300 aircraft for the service but will switch to 737-800 in May 2010.
The carrier's fleet, which now consists of 63 aircraft, will double by 2014. It is buying new Boeing 777s, 737s and Airbus A330-200s.
"We have a few plans here. We know that Denpasar, Medan and Lombok are popular among Malaysians. Flight frequencies may increase in the near future." he added.
Garuda has code share agreements with more than seven airlines in Asia Pacific, including Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to help it strengthen its business.
Its partnership with MAS was inked six years ago, when it stopped flights to Bali and Medan.
"The partnership with the airlines is important to help Garuda grow. Competition is stiffer due to excess capacity led by weaker demand for travel.
"We are competing with Merpati Air and Lion Air for traffic here, which is why we developed the Lombok route," Tendean said.
Tendean said he expects the business from Kuala Lumpur to Lombok to be positive thanks to Malaysian companies like Sime Darby, Tabung Haji, Felcra and Felda hiring workers from the region.
He said there are some 50,000 people from Lombok employed in Malaysia and that is set to grow.
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