Garuda Indonesia to firm up widebody order by year-end

Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) Chief Executive Officer Arif Wibowo says his airline will finalize its widebody refleeting plans by the end of the year. In an interview with Reuters, Wibowo said the Indonesian carrier is still studying the A350-900 and B787-9's fuel efficiency and operating costs before making a final decision.

During the Paris Airshow 2015, Garuda signed Letters of Intent with Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) and Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare) for thirty A350-900s and thirty B787-9s respectively though only one type will be ordered Wibowo stated.

Once selected, the winning type will then be used to replace Garuda's fleet of ten A330-200s and thirteen A330-300s. The airline also operates nine B777-300(ER)s.

The CEO also disclosed that Garuda is in talks with Airbus and sister firm Avions de Transport Régional (Toulouse Blagnac) concerning the proposed deferment of various aircraft it has on order.

Concerning Airbus, Garuda hopes to delay delivery of 'at least some' of the six A330-300s it currently has on order that were to have arrived in 2017. It is also considering upgrading some to the A330neo.

Concerning ATR, Garuda is hoping to defer delivery of six out of the nine ATR72-600s it was to have taken delivery of next year.