In Reply to: garuda? is this a joke? posted by silverfeathers on Sunday, 18. March 2007 at 18:28 Bali Time:
This announcement followed one of the most astonishing decisions in avaiation history. A short time before this about-face, came the bombshell that Garuda management had decided to drop all direct flights into Bali ex Australia and Japan (there was another country as well but I can't recall the details). Several representatives of Garuda spoke publicly on the decision as the airline clamied that it was simply too expensive to operate two hubs so they had decided that Jakarta was to be the central point for international arrivals and passengers would be transited to Bali from there. Even with diminished numbers, Japan and Australia represented around 40% of Bali's entire tourism numbers. And yet, here was Garuda saying tough-titties we don't need yur business! The repurcussions were instant and within a month or so Garuda reversed its decisioin on the back of announcement that the airline had merely been considering such an otion.! HHHmmnnn...sure!!! Anyhow, Within a couple of months of that announcement, Garuda fund itself cap-in-hand advising that Brisbane, Adelaide and NZ connections were dumped. A bit of PR circus, really. Cheers - kevin