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ublicly listed national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has rebounded from last year'€™s losses, posting a profit for the first half of this year after lowering operating expenses and recording strong passenger growth.

Garuda managed to book US$27.7 million in net income the in the January-June period, a sharp increase from its $203 million net loss in the same period last year, according to its financial report published Wednesday.

Garuda Indonesia president director Arif Wibowo said that the carrier managed to reverse its financial performance thanks to a 11.6 percent decrease in operating expenses.

The firm'€™s operating expenses were down from $1.9 billion in the first six months of 2014 to $1.7 billion in the same period this year.

'€œWe are adapting to external conditions and focusing on fixing the firm'€™s internal situation through our quick win programs,'€ Arif told reporters.

Garuda booked $1.8 billion in revenue in the first half of this year, up 4.7 percent year-on-year, as it managed to compensate for a decline in the average fare with high growth in the number of kilometers traveled by paying passengers '€” measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK).

'€œOur RPK growth was greater than our ASK [available seat kilometers '€” a measure of carrying capacity] this first half, which is necessary to trade off our [passenger] yield reduction, since our average price has decreased, while at the same time maintaining our revenue growth,'€ he continued.

Garuda'€™s RPK grew 17.7 percent while their ASK grew 7.2 percent in the first half.

However, the passenger yield '€” which measures average fare per passenger per kilometer '€” decreased 12.4 percent due to rupiah depreciation and lower international fares amid an unstable economy, according to the company'€™s statement.

The airline'€™s performance was also turned around by cost reductions as well as fuel and currency hedging practices, Garuda chief financial officer Ari Askhara said.

'€œThe fuel hedge accounted for 27 percent of our annual fuel consumption that reached 1.8 billion liters, and we are aiming to continue the fuel hedging practice, gradually increasing that level to 50 percent of total fuel consumption,'€ Ari told reporters.

In April, Garuda signed a partnership agreement with four private banks, namely Bank International Indonesia, Bank Mega, ANZ Indonesia and the Standard Chartered Bank, for a Rp 1 trillion ($77.01 million) hedging facility.

Garuda also previously signed a hedging facility agreement worth another Rp 1 trillion with state lender Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank CIMB Niaga and Standard Chartered.

Ari said that the firm aimed to record $198 million in non-fuel cost efficiencies this year. By the end of June, the efficiency figure has reached $60.3 million.

The company'€™s data shows that Garuda, including its low cost arm Citilink, recorded a 19.5 percent growth in passenger volume to 15.9 million in the first half of this year from 13.3 million in the same period last year, and its flight frequency increased 13.8 percent to 122,446 flights from 107,568 in the first half of last year.

The company'€™s cargo volume, however, decreased to 176,000 tons in the January-June period this year from 193,500 tons in the same period last year, amid slower export and import activity.

During the second semester, Arif said that the company would continue monitoring the rupiah exchange rate, continue restructuring costs and also continue its hedging program.

In another development, Garuda signed a deal on Wednesday with CFM International, a joint venture between US aircraft engine supplier GE Aviation and French aircraft and rocket engine manufacturer Snecma, to order LEAP-1B engines for 50 Boeing B 737 MAX 8s.