Garuda Indonesia, according to reports, is considering the purchase of 50 turboprop regional aircraft during 2013. The airline has indicated that it is considering aircraft built by ATR and Bombardier to fulfill its requirements. The ATR option would be the ATR72 aircraft and Bombardier would be offering the DHC-8Q-400.
The airline’s chief executive Emirsyah Satar indicated that a decision would be made by the first half of 2013. It is assumed that the addition of turboprop aircraft to the airline’s fleet is to increase service to Indonesia’s remote areas, many of which have airports that cannot support regional jet aircraft service..
In February 2012, the airline came to an agreement with Bombardier to buy six CRJ1000 NextGen regional jets and has options on another 18 more aircraft. In the past week, the airline also announced that it would lease another 12 CRJ1000 NextGen aircraft from a leasing company outside of their Bombardier order.
