Garuda boosts seat capacity between China and Indonesia

ANTICIPATING potential growth in traffic between Indonesia and China, Garuda Indonesia is adding some 150,000 seats on the route linking both destinations this year.

The addition in seat capacity will be deployed through scheduled charters, which will include destinations beyond the major gateways of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, where the airline has been operating regular services.

The plan is to connect Bali and Manado in Indonesia with cities like Chengdu, Chongqing, Ningbo, Kunming, Jinan, Harbin, Xi’an, Shenyang and Chengzhou.

Arief Wibowo, president and CEO, Garuda Indonesia, said: “Garuda, through its regular services, has provided some 950,000 seats on the Indonesia-China routes and with an additional 150,000 seats, we are deploying 1.1 million seats on this route this year.”

The move is part of the airline’s network-restructuring programme with route cuts or reduced frequencies to destinations such as Japan and Australia, and additional deployment to more promising destinations like China and the Middle East.

The first three months’ operation of the first scheduled charter – started in January between Bali and Beijing to capture the Lunar New Year holiday market – was considered successful.

“The contract (of chartered services) is for one year, but we are conducting quarterly reviews. The result (for Q1) was very good and we will continue with the other destinations in China, with a minimum twice-weekly frequency,” Arief added.

He expects the move will further expand the China market, in line with the Ministry of Tourism’s push for both leisure and MICE arrivals from China to reach a combined two million this year.

While MICE statistics were not yet available in Indonesia at press time, total arrivals from China last year had reached 959,231.

Welcoming Garuda’s additional seat capacity, Saraswati Subadia, director of sales for MICE at The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali, said: “We saw the MICE market from China grow 15 to 10 per cent in 2014 compared to 2013, and looking at the forward bookings we have so far, we are expecting 20 to 30 per cent growth this year.

“The additional seat capacity is always welcome. What we need to do now is collaborate among the MICE stakeholders to grab the market.”

Read the full story in the TTG Official Show Daily ­– IT&CM China 2015

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