Domestic market to be driver of recovery, Garuda chief says

Garuda Indonesia expects the domestic market to drive its business this year, which is showing signs of recovery despite the heavy blow to the aviation sector by COVID-19, the company’s top executive has said. Garuda president director Irfan Setiaputra said that the company was currently exploring new opportunities in the domestic market, as it provides better opportunities than the international market during the ongoing health crisis. “During the recovery process, we agreed that the domestic market will be the driver. The reasoning behind the decision is that we have more control in the market in regard to the [industry] authorities,” he said, referring to the firm’s relationship with aviation stakeholders such as state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura (AP) II. “The only way to accelerate recovery is by boosting [the number] of passengers.” The airline enjoyed an increase of 58.1% month-on-month in the number of domestic passengers to over 110,400 passengers in July, which the airline attributed to the relaxation of the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) by the government. However, the airline saw an overall 61% drop year-on-year in total numbers of passengers as of July this year, down to 3.6 million passengers, as the pandemic stymied the airline’s operations and hit its financial performance, with social restrictions and border closures deterring people from flying. <br/>