Garuda Turns a Profit

(11/3/2007)

Tempo Interaktif reports that Garuda Indonesia created a profit of Rp. 218 billion (US$23.7 million) in the period January-September 2007, an increase of 150% over the same period in the preceding year. Garuda suffered a loss of Rp. 436 billion (US$47.39 million) in 2006.

"Current results are a good step, while over the past three years Garuda always suffered losses," explained Garuda Chief Executive Officer, Emirsyah Satar.

Emirsyah is very optimistic that Garuda's profitability will continue to improve through the end of 2007, pointing out that "the second semester is peak season." The Indonesian national flag carrier has also managed to improve its cash flow, achieving US$919 million or a 17% improvement over the US$786 cash flow of January-September 2006.

Passenger load factors have also improved at Garuda Indonesia by approximately 10%. Average passengers loads January-September 2007 stood at 78%, up from the 71% recorded in the same period the year before. During the same period, total passengers carried hit 6.1 million, up from 5.6 million in the first three quarters of 2006.