The app, KirimAja, will enable customers to order goods, from fashion to electronic products, to cities that are listed as flight destinations of the airline or its low-cost carrier subsidiary, Citilink.
ational flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, through its logistics subsidiary PT Aerojasa Cargo, has launched an app-based courier service to develop its cargo business amid weakened passenger demand.
The app, called KirimAja, will enable customers to order deliveries of goods, from fashion to electronic products, to cities that are listed as flight destinations of the airline or its low-cost carrier subsidiary, Citilink. It will also serve deliveries in Greater Jakarta.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to be more adaptive and creative in accelerating the development of new business opportunities in the new normal era, and we have developed a logistics business with KirimAja,” Garuda Indonesia president director Irfan Setiaputra said in a statement published on Tuesday.
The airline also cited the booming e-commerce industry in the country as a factor that created the demand for logistics services in Indonesia.
“We hope KirimAja will be the choice for the people, as well as the small and medium enterprises sector, which needs an online goods delivery service that is supported by a trusted air cargo service,” Irfan added.
The app, which is available for download both on Apple and Android devices, also includes features such as real-time tracking, tracing, reservation, booking management, payments via virtual accounts and delivery fee checking.
The service is similar to the one offered by the flag carrier’s former logistics subsidiary, PT Garuda Tauberes Indonesia, before the subsidiary was then merged with other subsidiaries following the state-owned enterprises minister’s order.
KirimAja will also involve delivery agents grouped under the company’s so-called Sohib KirimAja community, its statement said.
The new business line emerged as Garuda Indonesia laid off 180 contract pilots earlier this week and furloughed at least 800 employees for three months starting mid-May to cut costs.
The flag carrier, which normally operates around 600 flights per day, was forced to ground 100 of its 142 aircraft, leading to a 70 percent decline in daily flights and nearly 32 percent annual drop in passenger and cargo revenue.
To help the ailing state-owned airline make it to the other side of the pandemic, the government is allocating Rp 8.5 trillion (US$597.6 million) in working capital guarantees as part of a broader relief package to recover the country’s economy.
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