Garuda Indonesia forced to postpone flight service to London due to limited runway capacity at Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Due to a limited runway capacity at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Garuda Indonesia has been forced to postpone its flight service to London, which had initially been planned for 2nd November 2013. Reason being, the pavement classification number (PCN) of the runways and apron at Soekarno-Hatta Airport do not meet the required level of strength, which is typically needed for the operation of a full capacity, heavy duty commercial airline, such as the B 777-300ER. Garuda Indonesia President & CEO Emirsyah Satar said that to operate at “full capacity” serving direct flights between Jakarta – London (non-stop) and carrying 314 passengers (8 first class, 38 business class, 268 economy class) and a cargo of 30 tons (maximum take-off weight), the B 777-300ER requires a PCN of 132 tons. Soekarno-Hatta’s aging runway is already 28 years old and nearing “fatigue” with a pavement classification number/PCN of only 120 tons.