Garuda Indonesia's operating loss in the first half of 2017 saw a nearly sixfold increase to $215 million, compared to the same period a year ago. Revenue for the six months to 30 June grew 7% to $1.89 billion, but this was outpaced by a 16.7% jump in total operating expenses to $2.1 billion, says the SkyTeam carrier in its financial statements. The higher operating expense was led by a 16.8% increase in costs related to flight operations. Maintenance and overhaul, airport, ticketing and marketing activities, passenger services, and administration costs also went up. Its attributable net loss came in at $282 million, widening from the $63.6 million loss posted a year ago. Complicating matters for Garuda were losses related to foreign exchange, tax benefits, and cash flow hedging. In a statement, Garuda says it was able to reduce its second quarter net loss to $38 million, a significant decline from the $99.1 million loss in the first quarter of 2017.