Advertisement
Singapore markets close in 4 hours 8 minutes

  • Straits Times Index

    3,292.70
    +26.75 (+0.82%)
     

  • Nikkei

    38,158.40
    +84.42 (+0.22%)
     

  • Hang Seng

    18,859.60
    +321.79 (+1.74%)
     

  • FTSE 100

    8,381.35
    +27.30 (+0.33%)
     

  • Bitcoin USD

    62,919.52
    +1,377.53 (+2.24%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,352.37
    +52.27 (+4.02%)
     

  • S&P 500

    5,214.08
    +26.41 (+0.51%)
     

  • Dow

    39,387.76
    +331.36 (+0.85%)
     

  • Nasdaq

    16,346.26
    +43.46 (+0.27%)
     

  • Gold

    2,360.60
    +20.30 (+0.87%)
     

  • Crude Oil

    79.83
    +0.57 (+0.72%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.4490
    -0.0430 (-0.96%)
     

  • FTSE Bursa Malaysia

    1,600.58
    -0.64 (-0.04%)
     

  • Jakarta Composite Index

    7,088.79
    -34.81 (-0.49%)
     

  • PSE Index

    6,569.15
    +26.69 (+0.41%)
     

Garuda Indonesia create new hub in Bintan Island

Reuters
A Garuda Indonesia aircraft takes off from Denpasar airport as tourists gather on nearby Kuta beach in Bali, February 8, 2014. REUTERS/Jason Reed

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia (JKT:GIAA) is developing a new hub in Bintan island, off Singapore, to augment its domestic network in one of the world's fastest-growing airline markets.

Garuda is partnering Singapore-listed Gallant Venture Ltd (SES:5IG) to build the infrastructure for the 177-ha site in Bintan, it said on Tuesday at the Singapore Airshow.

This will include a new airport and runway, which will be dedicated to Garuda's operations. The carrier will also have a new maintenance centre in Bintan.

"This new operation will help strengthen Garuda's network development, with a potential to connect East Indonesia and West Indonesia, and become the meeting point for our international flights to Europe and the Far East," Garuda president Emirsyah Satar told a news conference.

ADVERTISEMENT

Bintan will become the airline's fourth hub in Indonesia after the capital Jakarta, Denpasar in Bali, and Makassar in Sulawesi.

Garuda's plans come after rival Lion Air, a low-cost carrier, opened a new aircraft hangar in January on Batam island, which is located near Bintan. Lion also plans to make Batam its second hub outside Jakarta.

Indonesian carriers have been looking to find new airline and maintenance hubs in the country, bypassing Jakarta's over-crowded Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Satar added that he is still finalising plans to order up to 250 planes, to effectively double its fleet to 350-400 aircraft by 2025.

The carrier is assessing a variety of aircraft including Airbus (AIR.PA) A330s and A350s and the Boeing (NYS:BA) 787.

(Reporting By Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah, Editing By Siva Govindasamy)