Garuda Indonesia, the national carrier of Indonesia, has signed a new firm order for four A330-300s. The airline has chosen the latest 235 tonne maximum take-off weight variant for long-haul services to all destinations to the Middle East, Asia and Pacific from its hubs in Jakarta and Denpasar. The airline will furthermore convert three previously ordered A330-200s into -300 versions. The agreement was signed in the presence of French Prime Minister François Fillon and His Excellency Hatta Rajasa, Coordinating Minister for Economy of Indonesia.

The new aircraft will join a fleet of seven leased A330-200s and six A330-300s already in service with the airline. This purchase agreement follows an order for six A330-200s signed in July 2010 and will increase the total A330 fleet of Garuda to 23 aircraft. The airline has recently committed to 25 A320s both standard and NEO for its low cost subsidiary Citilink.

“Over the last 15 year, thanks to our A330 Family aircraft, we have benefited from the lowest seat mile cost, true long range capability and proven reliability while our passenger enjoyed very high level of comfort. It is a natural choice for us to continue our successful operations with the A330 Family of Airbus,” said Emirsyah Satar, President & CEO, Garuda Indonesia.

“We are delighted that our relationship with our long-lasting customer, Garuda Indonesia, has been reinforced so strongly in recent weeks. The airline has chosen to become a new operator of our benchmark single aisle A320 Family and will expand its operations with the world’s most efficient widebody aircraft in service today, the A330. These new and repeated orders are a clear vote of confidence,” explained John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer, Customers, Airbus.

The twin engine A330 is one of the most widely used widebody aircraft in service today. To date, Airbus has won more than 1,100 orders for the various versions of the aircraft and more than 780 A330s are currently flying with close to 120 customers and operators worldwide. The fleet has accumulated over 17 million flight hours in over 4 million flights and shows a dispatch reliability of 99.6 percent.

Source: Airbus
Photo: Rob Vogelaar, ZAPP