Garuda Indonesia restructures fleet, defers some plane deliveries

SINGAPORE - Garuda Indonesia is facing pressure on yields because of over-capacity in markets and weak economic growth, forcing it to restructure its fleet and defer some aircraft deliveries, the airline's president said on Wednesday. "The markets seem to be in over-capacity, not only domestic but also regional," Arif Wibowo told Reuters in an interview at the Singapore Airshow.

He said air traffic at Indonesia's flag carrier had been hurt by weaker demand from the natural resources sector due to the collapse in prices for oil, gas and other commodities.

He said Garuda had been deferring deliveries of some Airbus wide body airplanes and ATR aircraft, adding that the airline is also restructuring its planes to fit in more economy seats at the expense of first class seats in most of its aircraft.