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Garuda Indonesia forced to delay flights to London
National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has been forced to delay its flights, which were scheduled to start on Nov
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ational flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has been forced to delay its flights, which were scheduled to start on Nov. 2, 2013, due to the fact that the level of runway's pavement at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has not met requirements for the operation of B 777-300ER aircraft.
Garuda Indonesia president director Emirsyah Satar said in Jakarta on Thursday the B 777-300ER aircraft required pavement classification number (PCN) of 132 R/D/W/T to operate at its full capacity to serve the Jakarta-London route with 314 passengers, with 8 in first class, 38 in business class and 268 economy class, and 11 tons of cargo (maximum take-off weight of 351,534 kg), while the existing PCN at Soekarno-Hatta was only 120 R/D/W/T .
"Due to such conditions there will be a 'restricted take-off weight' of 329.365 kg, which means Garuda Indonesia has to reduce capacity by 39 passengers and cannot transport cargo during each flight, thereby causing the carrier to suffer significant losses," Emirsyah said in a statement.
"In addition, if Garuda Indonesia insists on continuing its flights from Jakarta to London with only one stop, Garuda's route will not be competitive as the direct flights from Jakarta to London will constitute the fastest flights to Europe at a time when other airlines carry out one stop in a city or country where the airlines are based," he added.
Initially Garuda Indonesia planned to provide a non-stop Jakarta-London service five times a week, departing from Jakarta at 00:50 a.m. local time, arriving in London (Gatwik) at 8:30 a.m. local time, with the return flight departing from London at 10:00 a.m. local time and arriving in Jakarta at 6:15 a.m. local time the next morning.
Due to the delay, Garuda Indonesia will reschedule its direct flights from Jakarta to London starting from May 2014, after improvement of the runway's PCN at Soekarno-Hatta.
