Garuda commercial director Agus Toni Soetirto said the airline had managed to book approximately US$25 million in net profits from July to early September and expected to collect more by the end of the year.

“There is indeed higher [demand] potential in the third and fourth quarters. In the past two months, which saw the Idul Fitri holiday season, we already managed to record profit,” he said recently, referring to the Islamic holiday during which millions of Indonesian Muslims conducted annual exodus to celebrate the holiday.

Garuda recorded $63.2 million in losses during the first six months of this year, a poor performance compared to the $29.3 million profit it enjoyed during the corresponding period last year.

Last year, Garuda managed to book profit for the first time after years of recording losses.

Garuda president director Arif Wibowo said the poor financial performance had been caused by a variety of factors, including its aggressive plan to expand fleet in a weakening economy.

The company will put 17 new aircraft into service this year, nine of which were entered into circulation in the first semester. However, its passenger load factor as of June was 70.8 percent, down by 5 percent from the corresponding period.

Garuda has been intensifying efforts to tap demand potential and increase its passenger load factor through various means, such as discounts and promotions.

Next month, the company will hold Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair (GATF) for the second time this year.

“This quarter our load factor is around 75 percent and [after hosting this event] it could increase by 3 to 4 percent up to 78 percent this year,” Arif said.

GATF will be held from Oct. 7 to Oct. 9 in 18 cities in Indonesia, including Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java, Palembang in South Sumatra and Bandung in West Java.

The travel fair boasts low-cost ticket fares for domestic and international flights with the lowest price for a domestic flight set at Rp 700,000 ($53.30) and Rp 800,000 for the cheapest international flight.

The first GATF held this year attracted 69,000 visitors with total transactions hitting Rp 179 billion.

New emerging destinations are being promoted, like Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara and Toba Lake in North Sumatra.

Meanwhile, state lender Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), which partners with the airline for GATF, is focusing on growing its debit and credit card business.

“At the last event, we added more than 7,000 credit card holders and 1,000 debit card holders. This time we’re aiming to get a similar result, hoping to add 8,000 credit card holders and 2,000 debit card holders,” BNI consumer banking director Anggoro Eko Cahyo said, adding that cashless transactions made up half of the transactions at the event.

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