Garuda’s Gatwick launch delayed by six months
Garuda Indonesia has been forced to postpone the launch of its Jakarta-London flights to May 2014, a delay of six months from the previously-planned date of November 2 this year.
Garuda says the 28-year-old runway and apron at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport are not strong enough to carry the Boeing 777 if the aircraft was to operate with a full load
The route was intended to showcase Garuda’s flagship Boeing 777-300ER and its new first class suites.
The airline has been heavily marketing its new non-stop Sydney-Jakarta-London flight.
The airline’s vice-president for Australia and the South-West Pacific, Bagus Y. Siregar, said the B777-300ER would still be put into service on the Sydney-Jakarta route between November 8 and December 18.
“The aircraft will then be deployed to another region until our Jakarta to London service begins in 2014, when the aircraft will fly from Sydney to Jakarta and onto London direct,” he said.
Garuda Indonesia chief executive Emirsyah Satar said using the present runway at Soekarno-Hatta meant the airline would have to reduce the take-off weight of its London flight by carrying 39 fewer passengers and less cargo.
“Additionally, the flight would not be able to fly directly to London,” he said.
“In this competitive market, not being able to operate with a full payload would severely disadvantage Garuda Indonesia at this time.”
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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