Garuda eyes more int’l passengers during Islamic holiday

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is eying more international passengers to visit Jakarta during the Idul Fitri Islamic holiday, an executive said.

Marketing director Elisa Lumbantoruan said that Garuda had conducted promotional activities in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia -- destinations where the airline provides direct services.

“Idul Fitri is the best time to enjoy the capital city because it is almost empty due to the exodus. We believe that foreign tourists will be able to better explore Jakarta’s tourist and cultural sites better than any other day,” Elisa told The Jakarta Post.

The Idul Fitri low season program is one of the airline’s new marketing programs this year, he said.

In addition, he said the airline was collaborating with local partners in the respective countries and using Facebook and Twitter to promote Jakarta.

He did not go into detail on the number of passengers the airline hoped to attract, but said that the airline expected to increase its load factor to at least 65 percent.

“During the Islamic holiday, the load factor [to and from those countries] usually stands at 60 percent or less. A 5 percent increase will help increase our revenue,” he said.

Garuda’s total number of passengers was 17 million in 2011, up 36 percent from 12.5 million in 2010, comprising 13.9 million domestic passengers and 3.2 million international passengers.

The airline expects to serve 22 million passengers in 2012, up 29 percent from 2011. (swd)