Jakarta – Garuda Indonesia (IDX: GIAA) was supposed to fly 268 hajj groups this year but that plan is scrapped as the government had canceled all hajj pilgrimage this year.
This policy will affect the company’s finances, as last year the flag carrier got 10 percent of their revenue from hajj flights.
As this year’s hajj is canceled, the state airline’s finances are likely to slump further amid flight restrictions because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Garuda has already lost income potentials from Eid al-Fitr and school holidays travel.
Nevertheless, president director Irfan Setiaputra said the airline had anticipated the hajj cancellation. “We have prepared for this early on,” he said on Tuesday, June 2, Bisnis Indonesia reported.
This time, he said, the cancellation impact is less of a heavy burden compared to previous cancellations, as Garuda is not holding public money that they would have to refund.
The Indonesian government canceled all hajj departures for the year 2020, with regards to the Covid-19 pandemic. The government made the decision under considerations that it important to save lives and there is not enough time for preparing embarkations.
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