TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia Airlines plans to reopen its' regular scheduled services to France and Germany, while simultaneously aiming to increase its' passenger traffic and revenues from China, the Middle East, and Europe.

Garuda Indonesia's Director of Finances, IGN Askhara Dananiputra, said that regular services to both destinations could begin either in the second quarter (Q2) or third quarter (Q3) of 2015 - pending the delivery of three more Boeing 777s which the flag carrier has on order.

"We have three Boeing 777s that have yet to be delivered, and it would be such a waste to operate them on short and/or mid haul flights because the operating costs would add up to be the same. As such, it would make much more sense to operate them on long haul flights," said Dananiputra after the signing of a hedging agreement with four financial institutions in Jakarta on Tuesday, APril 14, 2015.

Dananiputra explained that the US manufactured aircrafts will be delivered in June, September, and October.

Garuda Indonesia's executive director M Arif Wibowo said that the airline have chosen France and Germany because the economic growth of those nations are considered to be relatively more stable compared to their European neighbours.

"Economic growth in Europe has averaged around two to three percent - led by Germany, and then France in second place," said Wibowo.

Wibowo said that the company is still considering the feasibility of opening direct flights into the countries, especially since the runway at Soekarno-Hatta Airport is still incapable of supporting the weight of a fully loaded Boeing 777.

"Economically speaking, this plan is not feasible - as such, we need to consider several destinations to protect our profit margins," said Wibowo.

To support the operation of regular services to Europe, Garuda plans to deploy 10 out of the 18 aircrafts that are due to be delivered this year.

Wibowo also said that Garuda plans to increase the frequency of its' flights to its' existing as well as its' newer destinations - for example, it plans to instate daily services to London and Amsterdam, while it plans to fly to France and Germany four times a week.

The new services - considering that each Boeing 777 could carry an average of 300 passengers - will add around 1,200 seats per week, or 62,400 passengers per year to Garuda's total passenger capacity.

"In addition to opening new routes across Europe, China and the Middle East, Garuda also plans to expand its' network beyond its' current reach, and increase the efficiency of its' aircraft deployment," said Wibowo.

ANTARANEWS