"It is true we suffered losses in the first quarter but the losses were relatively small. Overall, our performance in the first quarter of 2011 was far better than in the same period last year," Garuda Indonesia President Director Emirsyah Satar said when disclosing the company`s first-quarter performance.
In general, airline companies suffered losses in the first quarter due to low season. Normally, the number of air passengers increased during high season in the second quarter, he said.
"As a matter of fact, we have never made first-quarter profit for the fifth straight years in a row," he said.
Yet the company`s income in the first quarter of 2011 showed a sign of improvement while at the same time other operational aspects also rose significantly, he said.
"Our income in the first quarter of 2011 reached Rp5.189 trillion, up 49.7 percent compared with the same period last year when the figure was Rp3.467 trillion," he said.
He said Garuda Indonesia carried 3,676 thousand passengers in the first quarter of 2011, a 42 percent increase compared with the same period last year when it was 2,502 thousand.
Production capacity also rose 40 percent to 7.35 billion from 5.24 billion seat/kilometer last year. Yield from passengers also increased 2.9 percent to 8.5 cent dollar from 8.4 cent dollar in 2010.
The national flag carrier also recorded a 23.7 percent increase in the frequency of domestic flights to 23,353 in the first quarter of 2011 from 18,876 in the same period last year. Meanwhile, the frequency of international flights rose 27.3 percent to 4,737 from 3,720.
He said the company`s load factor in the first quarter of 2011 rose 6.9 percent to 71.7 percent from 67.2 percent. (T.E008/S012/HAJM/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
