TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-PT GMF, a subsidiary of state airliner Garuda Indonesia (Persero), begins operating hangar 4 on Monday, September 28. Hangar 4 is the area for aircraft maintenance at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport.

Built on an area of 67,022 m2, the hangar can be occupied by 16 narrow body aircraft, making it the largest in the world.

"Obviously, by operating this hangar, GMF will further improve its services and become a global player that counts," SOE Minister Rini M Soemarno said when inaugurating hangar 4 Monday.

Rini said that the construction of hangar 4 shows GMF's readiness in welcoming upcoming challenges. Over the next 20 years, she said, global airline companies will shift to the Asia Pacific region.

Garuda Indonesia president director Arif Wibowo said the additional capacity for hangar 4 is a form of GMF's support to Garuda's Quantum Leap program. The program focuses on operating 241 of Garuda and Citilink's small body aircraft, regional jets, and turboprop aircraft in in 2020.

"We want to capture the narrow-body care market in the domestic and Asia-Pacific region, aiming to be the largest aircraft maintenance market leader for the next five years," said Arif.

Arif projects that by 2018, hangar 4 will reach its full capacity. In 2016, he estimates that 209 aircraft maintenance work will be carried out at the hangar.

Arif also said that with the operation of hangar 4 Garuda will see an increase in the company's revenue by 150 percent. "Currently, our revenue from narrow body capacity reaches to US$57 million. By 2018, we believe our revenue from GMF will reach US$143 million."

JONIANSYAH