Garuda Apologizes, The Jakarta-Gorontalo Flight Route Is Canceled

Illustration of Garuda Indonesia aircraft (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Garuda Indonesia has officially canceled a number of flight schedules for the Jakarta-Makassar-Gorontalo route because passenger occupancy rates have decreased significantly.

"We canceled flights for January 25, 28 and 30, 2021. Previously, flights were canceled on January 1, 11 and 14, 2021," said GM of Garuda Indonesia-Gorontalo Branch Office, Oktavianus Tampi, as reported by Antara, Friday, January 15.

According to him, one of the factors for the decline in passenger occupancy from both Jakarta-Gorontalo and vice versa from Gorontalo-Jakarta is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which has been around for almost a year.

The Garuda Indonesia airline, which serves the Jakarta-Gorontalo route, is the Boeing 737-800NG type, if fully loaded, with 150 seats for the economy and 12 for business.

"During the pandemic we implemented social distancing for passengers, namely only 6 business seats and 94 economy class seats were prepared," he said.

However, in early 2021, according to Tampi, only about 10-15 percent of passengers using this state-owned airline. In fact, at the beginning of the year there is often a "low season" or a decrease in the number of passengers.

Meanwhile, Garuda Indonesia's flight schedule from Gorontalo and vice versa, outside of the cancellation schedule, is still running normally.

"We apologize to residents for the cancellation of several flight schedules, but the risk must be taken by the management of Garuda Indonesia," he explained.

Garuda Indonesia, he continued, continued to prioritize health protocols in serving consumer flights, to minimize the impact of the spread of the corona virus, in particular the obligation to wear masks and maintain a distance on the plane.