Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) has announced it has formally ended commercial B747 operations following the retirement of its last remaining active B747-400 this past weekend.
The Indonesian carrier said in a statement PK-GSH (msn 25705) completed its last revenue flight as GA8991 Makassar-Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta on Friday, October 6, following which it was withdrawn from service.
Garuda's President Director, Pahala Mansury, said in a statement the retirement of the carrier's three B747-400s (PK-GSI (msn 24956) having been sold to Orient Thai Airlines and PK-GSG (msn 25704) having already been stored earlier this year) was part of the company's fleet revitalization program aimed at improving its market offerings.
"This corporate action is a sign of Garuda Indonesia's commitment to continue to maintain the quality of service and passenger comfort through the operation of aircraft which average 5 years of age," he said.
The ch-aviation aircraft database shows Garuda has operated a total of six B747-200Bs and three B747-400s over the years.
Aside from two other B747-400s it had wet-leased from Spain's Wamos Air (EB, Madrid Barajas) for the now-ended Hajj charter season, Garuda's widebody fleet now entails eight A330-200s, seventeen A330-300s, and ten B777-300(ER)s. As previously reported, in line with new management's cost-cutting plan, the decision to whether acquire either the A350 or B787 has been deferred until such time that Garuda returns to profitability.
