TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State airliner Garuda Indonesia will provide private jet chartering service through its marketplace application, GIA Mall. The corporate director of cargo and business development, Mohammad Iqbal, said the service will be available in July 2019.

“We will develop a more private business by accommodating privacy needs of customers through GIA Mall,” said Iqbal when Tempo met at his office, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport complex, Tangerang, Friday, June 22.

Customers can charter a private flight with various types of airlines via GIA Mall app, such as private jet, joy flight, charter jet, up to the helicopter. They can also choose any route, either domestic or international. The chartering price will be displayed in the app with the accumulative tariff that is set based on per kilometer trip.

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According to Iqbal, Indonesians started to show interest in the chartering service, especially those upper class who liked to have luxury trips. “The market is broad, averagely high-end ones. I’ve run surveys,” he added.

In line with the release of chartering service, Garuda will also release Tau Beres, a digitalization program of goods delivery that will connect marketplace, logistics, and customers throughout Indonesia.

Besides improving its customer service, Garuda Indonesia was expanding its cargo business. This year, the group planned to add special cargo aircraft with a capacity of 15 tons, and at the end of this year, it planned to run a trial test on unmanned aircraft for goods delivery from small or remote regions in the eastern country.

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA