Garuda Indonesia is coming to Los Angeles! The carrier has sought permission to operate 3x per week between Jakarta and Los Angeles beginning in November 2017. Garuda plans to use its three-cabin 777-300ER on the route and operate the flight via Tokyo Narita.
What is Garuda Thinking?
I welcome this news. After flying in Garuda First Class last week from Jakarta to Amsterdam I will be one of Garuda’s biggest cheerleaders. The flight was undoubtedly one of the best of my life. Business class does not look bad either — I look forward to trying it.
But what is Garuda thinking?! Another Los Angeles to Tokyo route? Competing with a dozen carriers offering one-stop service to Jakarta?
I agree with One Mile At A Time — there is little chance this route will be profitable. The market is already saturated. Garuda will have to undercut its competition on cost (unlikely) or somehow distinguish itself in terms of service.
Garuda goes up against Singapore Airlines, ANA, JAL, Delta, American, and United on the same route. The first three are already in the same league as Garuda. Connecting to Jakarta, Garuda also competes against Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, EVA, Phillipines and a handful of Chinese carriers (even Qantas via Sydney).
Fellow SkyTeam member Delta is hubbed at LAX, but that probably won’t help either. The carrier has its own service to Narita and is closely aligned with China Eastern, directing connecting SE Asia traffic via its focus city in Shanghai.
So let’s be clear — this is just a prestige route. Garuda wants to fly to the USA (now that it can, thanks to an upgrade in its safety rating) and it will, whether it loses money or not.
That’s nothing to complain about – – it may mean some great fare sales and another chance to try out Garuda’s stellar premium product.
its an option to use ANA award chart to Oceana via CGK with stopover and 120k in J is a super bargain.
Yes, it is definitely a gamble, however you may be underestimating the number of Indonesians who live in Southern California who might choose Garuda to fly home. There is a sizable enough population there to fill up the available seats.
Since the flight is only 3x a week, I think they have at least a 50/50% chance of breaking even or even making a profit – especially if their quality of service continues to be exceptional and word of it gets out. If they can maintain their exceptional level of service then I think that they have a chance.
@Jay they’re not going to be profitable on the basis of expat leisure pax choosing on the basis of something other than price.
As Gary says, GA is going to have a tough time relying on “VFR” (visiting friends and relatives) traffic. They need pax with higher discretionary income to fill their premium cabins.
This is risky for garuda indonesia 5 star rating doesnt guarantee success.garuda would have to compete with other more established airlines like ANA japan airlines korean air cathay pacific EVA air asiana delta singapore airlines some chinese carriers like china southern hainan airlines etc..even with 3 star rating philippine airlines.pal are exceptional because of strong cultural ties with u.s. about 8 millions of filipino living in u.s. ..it is the main reason why pal profitted on this route,with twice daily flight manila to LAX and 3 x a week flight cebu to LAX.
I agree this route itself might not be profitable in the short term and there is a bit of a “prestige” factor to it.
But it can very well make sense in the long run: Indonesia is the most populous ASEAN country and has a fast growing economy, with plenty of business and people ties to the US. They also offer a competitive product – that is virtually unknown in the US. Establishing the brand recognition in the US that reflects the product & service they offer will take time. They can start with an (unprofitable) connecting flight. With newer, long-range planes they could move to non-stop flights to the US West Coast in the future. And they certainly can’t leave the field to LCCs – Indo AirAsia X flying non-stop LAX/SFO to Bali with connections allover SE Asia would be a big thorn in their side…
With a long-term business view, this can still make sense. Let’s see how it goes, I’ll wish them the best…
If you are a SkyTeamer, this could be great. Changing planes in China does not appeal to me based on what I have read. CI’s flight from Bali misses its New York connection in
Taipei. Could Garuda fly LAX-NRT-DPS-CGK?
Indeed you could, on an award at least.
This is nothing new! Garuda used to serve Los Angeles in the late 1980’s. They couldn’t compete and they pulled out of the US market. However, today’s Garuda may be better than ever before.