Citing an example, the airline`s vice president for corporate communications, Pujobroto, said flights to Amsterdam which were so far being conducted seven times a week would be scaled down to four times a week.
Speaking to reporters here Tuesday, he said flights to Amsterdam from Jakarta would be rescheduled for every Monday, Wednesday , Friday and Sunday. Return flights from Amsterdam would be set for every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
"On this route we will be operating A330-200s with a seating capacity for 222 comprising 186 economy-class and 36 business- class seats," he said.
Despite the flight frequency cut, Garuda would still have a good network in Europe, he said, adding that the flight personnel to be taken off the Amsterdam route would be reassigned to other routes, especially routes with promising potentials.
"It is difficult for us to predict when we could restore the normal flight frequency on the Amsterdam route, especially because the crisis in Europe may last for a few more years," Pudjobroto said.
Meanwhile, Garuda`s load factor on a number of its routes to Europe had so far averaged 75 percent, he said.
After reducing its flights to Europe, Garuda was ready to enhance its services in regional markets such as its route to Japan. The airline now had flights from Jakarta or Denpasar to Narita, Tokyo and Osaka but would open a new route from Denpasar to Haneda, Tokyo.
"Japan is a potential market for us as the load factor of routes to that country is as high as 80 percent," he said.
Garuda would also increase its flight frequency to Taipei from five times to seven times per week, Pudjobroto said. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
