Chief Executive of the airline Pahala N Mansury said the new units will bring the total number of its aircraft to 202 units.
The narrow bodied Max 8 aircraft will be used to serve domestic routes, Pahala said here on Monday.
"We already have one unit of Max 8, serving the Surabaya-Singapore and the Surabaya-Hong Kong routes," he said.
In 2017, Garuda put off the purchases of 20 new units of aircraft including 10 units for its subsidiary Citilink to save operating cost.
The Indonesian flag carrier is set to improve its financial performance this year after posting a loss of US$216 million last year, Pahala said.
The airline had cut operational costs and increased its revenue in the first three months of the year, thanks to effective strategies including stopping serving unproductive routes, particularly international routes, renegotiating with partners to optimize the quality of planes and gaining revenue from non-ticket sales, he was quoted as saying .
"Last year, we concluded 12 renegotiations and we plan to renegotiate nine other contracts this year. We have seen good impact from the renegotiations [on our corporate financial performance," Pahala said in a press conference.
Among its subsidiaries, low cost airline Citilink and PT Garuda Maintenance and Facility Aero Asia (GMF),are the largest contributors to its revenues.
Garuda has successfully maintained its 5-Star rating from Skytrax, the international air transport rating organization based in London. The airline received the 5-Star airline rating in 2014.
Reporting by Juwita Trisna Rahayu
Editing by Albert Saragih
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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