Garuda Indonesia has postponed plans to launch services to London, citing issues with the pavement strength of Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport.
The carrier was due to launch a five times weekly Jakarta-London Gatwick service in November, but now says that this has been postponed to May 2014.
To operate its Boeing 777-300ERs at a full capacity - carrying 314 passengers and 27t of cargo - the aircraft would be above the weight limits of Soekarno-Hatta's apron and runway, says Garuda's chief executive Emirsyah Satar.
If the carrier operated its London services under current conditions, it could only fly at a restricted take-off weight of 329t. This will mean that it will be unable to operate nonstop to London and can only carry 275 passengers without cargo.
"Consequently, the implementation of this flight with these conditions in this competitive world of air travel would have a serious effect on the operational and business requirements of this route," the airline adds.
Separately, a source from the airline has told Flightglobal Pro that Garuda is in discussions with the management of Heathrow airport to move its services there. The source adds that the airline is also in talks to secure slots at the airport, but could not name the parties that it is in discussion with.
Emirsyah told Flightglobal Pro that Garuda would benefit from having services to Heathrow as it would allow it to better connect with other carriers in the SkyTeam alliance, which it will join in March 2014.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
