Garuda Indonesia is targeting to increase revenue to $4.9 billion this year, and will continue to cut costs and optimise efficiency.
At a press conference in Jakarta, the airline says this is an increase from an estimated revenue of $4 billion in 2017. It also disclosed that it is renegotiating aircraft contracts with manufacturers and lessors, in a bid to reduce rates by up to 25%.
The carrier has said that it will not add any aircraft in 2018, and instead work to maximise the utilisation of its existing fleet. Garuda believes it can raise capacity up by to 15% through route optimisation, and by increasing the utilisation of its fleet.
It is also aiming to increase revenues by growing its cargo business, and by securing global partnerships for its maintenance arm GMF AeroAsia, and Aerowisata, which provides tourism-related and catering services.
The press conference was called after its pilot union issued statements calling for the number of directors at the airline to be reduced from nine to six. It also called for a restructuring of the board, with a priority on appointing directors from within the airline.
Its current chief executive Pahala Mansury was parachuted into the airline last April with no airline experience. The former Bank Mandiri chief financial officer's appointment follows Garuda's announcement of an $8.07 million net loss in 2016.
The union also said that cost-cutting implemented by the management has affected the airline's operations.
For the first nine months of 2017, Garuda posted an operating loss of $109 million and widened its attributable net loss to $222 million.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
