Garuda Indonesia fell deeper in the red during the first half of the year, as cost increases outpaced rising revenues.
For the six months ended 30 June, the Jakarta-based airline group posted a pre-tax loss of $113 million, slightly worse than the $109 million loss it made in the year-ago period.
This was despite an 18% increase in operating revenue, to over $1.6 billion, led mainly by growth in airline passenger revenue. During the half-year period, Garuda saw its domestic passenger volume grow by 42% to over 4.1 million, while international traffic rose 56% to 1.1 million.
However, Garuda noted that passenger yields shrank compared to the previous year, with domestic yields seeing the sharpest decline at 12%.
Moreover, the airline group, which also comprises low-cost unit Citilink, recorded a 23% jump in operating expenses, led by a sharp increase in maintenance-related costs (up 61%) and flight operations costs (up 15%).
Garuda posted a net loss of $101.6 million, compared to the $76 million loss in the year-ago period.
As at the end of June, mainline operator Garuda had 59 aircraft in its fleet, five more than at the same point last year, while Citilink saw a reduction of three jets to 42 aircraft.
The SkyTeam member did not provide commentary, except to state that it will continue to “explore new revenues and business opportunities through alliances and partnerships”. It most recently firmed up a wide-ranging partnership with Malaysia’s Capital A, which owns the AirAsia Group.
Garuda also has strategic partnerships with other carriers in the region like Singapore Airlines and Japan Airlines.
