The Flying Civet

Kopi Luwak or Civet Coffee is coffee made from coffee berries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets. The civets eat the berries, but the beans inside pass through their system undigested.

This process takes place in the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago; in the Philippines (wher;e the product is called Motit Coffee in the Cordillera, or Kape Alamid in Tagalog areas) and in East Timor (locally called Kafé-Laku). Local lore in Vietnam has given the name Weasel Coffee to this kind of coffee, in what is considered the closest recognizable translation to English.

Kopi Luwak was the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between $100 and $600 USD per pound, and is sold mainly in Japan and the United States by weight, and served in coffeehouses in Southeast Asia by the cup. It is increasingly becoming available elsewhere, though supplies are limited; only 1,000 pounds (450 kg) at most make it into the world market each year.

>And now, don’t be surprised if Garuda Indonesia provides you the best of Coffee Luwak on board. Enjoy!

We are so proud of you, Garuda Indonesia!
And please welcome the Civets aboard!

Back On The Rise

While most Asian carriers are reducing capacity in the face of the downturn, Garuda Indonesia has been expanding and posting profits.

Garuda made a net profit of 669 billion rupiah ($67 million) last year and for the first half of this year the numbers are higher. This profitability to the Indonesian economy which, unlike many other Asian economies, has avoided recession. But citing fuel price volatility, he stops short of saying full-year profits will be higher.

Garuda plans to roughly double its fleet to 20 Airbus A330s,90 Boeing 737s and up to six Boeing 777-300ERs by 2014. It has been able to easily add leased aircraft. This is in sharp contrast to a few years ago when it struggled to convince lessors to place their aircraft with the carrier. Garuda previously had difficulties with European export credit agencies over the financing for six A330-300s it bought in the 1990s. Garuda reached a preliminary agreement whereby it will pay some money and extend the loan period.

Garuda also owes $100 million to Indonesia’s Bank Mandiri in the form of mandatory convertible bonds. The bank says it wants cash. Satar says Garuda is speaking to Mandiri to see if the loan can be extended or whether Mandiri can exercise the bonds and cash out when Garuda carries out an IPO, planned for the middle of next year. While the government plans to retain a majority stake, the IPO means it should no longer have to rely on government financial assistance.

The carrier is also working on repositioning itself in its international markets. it is believed that Garuda performs well in the domestic market because it is preferred by business travelers. But on international routes it faces strong foreign competitors and in the past has tried to win passengers with low fares.

It is now working to reposition itself higher up the value chain. Passengers will still pay less on Garuda than on other full-service airlines but they will also get a good product. To deliver on its promise, Garuda’s new aircraft include audio/video on demand in-flight entertainment systems.

The First In Southeast Asia From Garuda

By Kenji San, a GNFI contributor from Kuala Lumpur

The brand new 737-800s of Indonesia’s flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, has arrived from Boeing factory, Seattle, USA on its delivery flight, 2nd of July 2009, exactly one day after another brand new Airbus A330-200 arrival. All of these sophisticated airplanes are equipped with personal in-flight entertainment system on every seat, offering hundresd of games, music audio and exclusive movie video on demand, which is the first in Southeast Asia for the 737s class.

There will be another 49 Boeing 737-800, 8 Airbus A330-200, and 10 Boeing 777-300ER. By the year of 2011, Garuda’s fleet will project to double the current fleet. Hopefully, they could reach 4 star airline by the next year, and continue rising to the highest rank for the following years. They call it “The Quantum Leap”.

Go Garuda!

Garuda’s New Make Up

I got those pictures from this blog, a newly arrived Garuda Indonesia’s Airbus A330-200. I like the new interior. And also, Garuda Indonesia will soon change the uniforms of its crews. Look at this pictures below… nice, isnt it? So Indonesia, right?

The Condor Has Come: Garuda’s Brand New Airbus 330-200

Written by Jannatul Firdaus, an aviation student (GNFI contributor in Indonesia)

Today 20th of may 2009, Garuda Indonesia received its first brand new Airbus 330-200 HGW (High Gross Weight) series of 4 aircrafts in their order. Those aircrafts are projected to serve Jakarta-Denpasar-Tokyo route starting from 2nd of June this year and to serve European routes via Dubai soon.

Airbus A330-200HGW series fuselage looks shorter than her sister A330-300, but they have much longer flying range about 12,670 km (2,170 km farther than A330-300 Garuda’s current fleet) with maximum takeoff weight around 238 tonnes. This aircraft can carries up to 293 passengers with two classes (business-economy) configuration or 253 passengers with three class (first-business-economy) classes configuration.

Those 330s were supposed to join with Hainan Airlines. But since they cancel their orders while the aircrafts has been built up, Garuda Indonesia took this idle-ordered aircrafts. And immediately after its arrival, the red-white Hainan’s livery will change into blue and white Garuda’s beautiful exotic livery at Garuda Maintenance Facility.

Pics taken from here.

Garuda Indonesia to Europe and the U.S. Again

Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia’s flag carrier, has shown a remarkable performance during the last 3 years, from a debt-ridden company to become the only airline in Southeast Asia to book profits in 2008. I got this from Kompas.com, Garuda Indonesia has confirmed to resume flight to cities in Europe (London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Frankfurt), and US (New York, LA, Chicago) starting next year. This year is too risky, not only money crisis, but also swine crisis. But our Garuda is confident it can fly high.

Australia Travel Warning to Indonesia

Travel Warning: Book Early!

Bucking the current worldwide downturn in travel, Australians continue to flock to Bali seeking value for money. Australian travelers to Bali during the first two months of 2009 totaled 48,068 a 34.64% increase over totals for the same period in 2008 (35,701).According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, overseas travel by Australians has shrunk by 2% since August 2008. Indonesia and Bali, however, have bucked this downward trend with travel booming despite unfavorable travel warnings issued from Department of Foreign Affairs. Underlining the migration of travelers to a destination identified for “value for money,” Australian holidaymakers coming to Indonesia have overtaken figures for those traveling to the U.S.A., Britain and Thailand. Indonesia has become the 2nd most popular holiday destination after New Zealand for Australians traveling abroad.

Quoted in The Age, the Australian marketing coordinator for Garuda Indonesia explained the surge in Bali travel by commenting, “it’s because it’s affordable… many people who might have gone further afield will go to Bali instead.”

The Age article also underlined how Garuda, is adding flights between Australia and Bali while airlines are curtailing service in other areas of the world. That article also reports that bookstores have run out of travel guides to Indonesia, “even though the Government warns us to reconsider your need to travel there.”

Source: Balidiscovery.com