Indonesia’s national carrier, Garuda Indonesia, officially announced Makassar as its third hub to the east. Not only was this a significant step forward in the airline’s network expansion strategy, the move was in tandem with a program launched recently by the government, the “Six National Economic Development Corridor Concept”.

From now on, Garuda Indonesia flies from Makassar to thirteen new domestic and international destinations, namely Ambon, Balikpapan, Biak, Denpasar, Jakarta, Jayapura, Palu, Surabaya, Gorontalo, Manado, Ternate, Timika, and Singapore.

The inauguration ceremony was officiated by the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, Mustafa Abubakar, Director General Air Transportation, Herry Bakti, Governor of South Sulawesi Syahrul Yasin Limpo and Garuda Indonesia President & CEO, Emirsyah Satar, during a dinner held on Tuesday evening, May 31, 2011. 

During the occasion, Emirsyah Satar said that Garuda Indonesia is always responsive towards market trends and quick to cash in on growing economic potentials in various regions, and network expansion is one way of improving service to customers. “Makassar is fast becoming an important business location and has always been a strategic point in the eastern regions of the archipelago. By developing Makassar as its eastern hub, Garuda Indonesia hopes to increase passenger travel as well as stimulate the local economy, which in turn will have a positive impact on the people’s welfare,” he added.

The launch of the Makassar as Garuda Indonesia’s third hub, after Jakarta and Denpasar, also supports the government’s ongoing program, the “Master Plan Percepatan dan Perluasan Pembangunan Ekonomi Indonesia or MP3EI 2011-2015 (the Indonesian Economic Development Expansion and Acceleration Master Plan)” in particular the “Sulawesi Economic Corridor” which proclaims the region as center of production and manufacturing of agriculture, plantation, fishery and the national nickel mining products. 

The development of Makassar comes at a most opportune moment when the Sulawesi Economic Corridor is being developed as the front line of the national economy against the growing markets in East Asia, Australia and America. In anticipation of Makassar’s future role as a lucrative business center, Garuda Indonesia has introduced services to connect Makassar with other business cities, such as Singapore and Balikpapan. In the future, Garuda Indonesia also sees Medan as the next hub for Sumatra and the surrounding regions.

Minister of State Owned Enterprise Mustafa Abubakar said that Garuda Indonesia’s program to develop Makassar as the eastern hub of Indonesia will ultimately boost economic growth in Makassar as well as in other parts of East Indonesia. “On various occasions, the Indonesian President emphasized the need for the business sector and state-owned enterprises in the country to join together in the development of the national economy. The President has also stated that the government’s main mission for the next five years will be to carry out ‘debottlenecking’, acceleration and expansion of national economic development. To this end, the government, business sector and state-owned enterprises must work together in pursuit of the targeted national economic growth in line with the Indonesian Economic Development Expansion and Acceleration Master Plan 2011-2015,” the Minister said.

Meanwhile, the Governor of South Sulawesi, Sahrul Yasin Limpo, warmly welcomed Garuda Indonesia’s efforts to develop Makassar as its hub. “As one of the most strategically positioned and fast growing metropolitan cities in the archipelago, Makassar will undoubtedly benefit a great deal from this endeavor. I am confident that in Makassar and in other cities in the eastern part of Indonesia, businesses and the economy in the region will thrive. Makassar will be the first to connect cities in eastern part with cities in the western part of the archipelago and abroad,” he said. “In addition, this new development will further ensure the success of the ‘Visit South Sulawesi 2012’ program,’ he added. 

In line with its network expansion strategy, Garuda Indonesia has launched the Quantum Leap program, which calls for the fleet to grow from 84 aircraft to 153 aircraft and consisting of various types, namely B737-800NGs, A330-200s and B777-30 ERs.

New Routes

As of June 1, 2011, Garuda Indonesia will introduce new routes from Makassar, which will further establish the city as a connecting city. The region will see direct flights to Singapore served once a day seven days a week with a Boeing B737-500 which has a seating capacity of 96 seats, consisting of 12 seats in business class and 84 seats in the economy class. Garuda also open new route from Makassar to Balikpapan vv, Makassar – Ternate vv, and Surabaya Ambon vv effective 1 June by using B737-500.

To anticipate increasing passenger demands, Garuda Indonesia has also added the number of flight frequency on several of its routes, among them:

•           Jakarta – Palembang (from 8 to 9 flights per day)
•           Jakarta – Batam (from 2 to 4 flights per day)
•           Jakarta – Padang (from 3 to 4 flights per day)
•           Jakarta – Surabaya (from 15 to 17 flights per day)
•           Jakarta – Balikpapan (from 7 to 8 flights per day)
•           Yogyakarta – Denpasar (from 2 to 3 flights per day)
•           Surabaya – Denpasar (from 3 to 4 flights per day)
•           Surabaya – Makassar (from 1 to 2 flights per day)

In the international sector, Garuda Indonesia has also added more flight frequencies on the Jakarta – Beijing route, from 3 flights to 5 flights per week, and on the Denpasar – Seoul service, from 3 flights to 5 flights per week. Meanwhile, Jakarta – Singapore is now served 8 times per day from the previously 7 times, and Garuda Indonesia serves Jakarta – Bangkok twice daily, from the previously once a day.

GMF-AA and PAP I Cooperation

Meanwhile, PT.Garuda Maintenance Facility AeroAsia (GMF-AA) and PT. Angkasa Pura I (PAP I) signed an agreement for the construction of a hangar located at the old Hasanuddin Airport Makassar. The signatories to the agreement were GMF-AA President Director, Richard Budihadianto and PAPI President & CEO, Tommy Soetomo.

The new hangar is expected to serve the increasing number of aircraft that fly through Makassar, which is one of the busiest airports after Jakarta. In the future, light and middle maintenance of aircraft can easily be done in the GMF-AA hangar in Makassar.