(The Insider Stories) — Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia (GIAA) is keen to boost its executive team by adding Netherlands telecommunications executive Erik Meijer to its board of directors in order to better cope with increasing competition.

State Enterprises minister Dahlan Iskan gave few details when announcing Meijer’s candidacy but said that Garuda needs to be better positioned internationally to compete. It’s likely that Meijer is being tapped for a role that will include marketing and sales strategy, as the airline looks at how to regain market share once its five-year “Quantum Leap” revitalization strategy ends in 2014 and as main competitor Lion Air, now bigger than Garuda in the domestic market, is to step up direct competion with the launch of premium brand Batik Air this year.

“Garuda’s CEO [Emirsyah Satar] wants a stronger team amid intensifying competition,” and recommended Meijer for an unspecified role for which he is currently being vetted as the sole candidate, according to Iskan.

Meijer is a familiar face in the Indonesian corporate scene: part of a team from the Netherlands’ KPN Royal Dutch Telecom that advised PT Telkomsel for several years in the mid-1990s when the cellular unit of state-owned Telekomunikasi Indonesia (TLKM) was first launched, he was later hired by Telkomsel and worked there for the next 11 years, eventually reaching the position of vice president and leading initiatives like the company’s 3G launch in 2006.

He joined Bakrie Telecom (BTEL) in 2007, serving as deputy president director of the parent company and head of several different units including Bakrie Connectivity, which has launched several innovative products including the low-cost, high-speed AHATouch Android-based smartphone made by Huawei Technologies (002502), even as the parent company’s subscriber growth and revenue struggle amid stiff competition in a regulatory environment that disfavors its Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) format against the GSM format used by top three players Telkomsel, Indosat (ISAT) and XL Axiata (EXCL).

Meijer is director and chief commercial officer at Indosat where he has been since May 2012, and is in charge of customer-facing strategy including marketing, sales and customer service, as the company focuses on data services amid strengthening competition to supply smartphone users.

Married to actress and TV presenter Maudy Koesnaedi, the 43-year-old is widely seen as the creative force behind the introduction of pre-paid mobile vouchers in Indonesia. He earned a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Indonesian Cellular Awards in 2007 and serves on the boards of the Indonesia Marketing Association and the Indonesian Advertisers Association.

Garuda faces increasing competition

Indonesia and the other nine countries in the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations have agreed to make it easier for airlines incorporated in any Asean member country to fly within the grouping’s airspace. The Asean Open Skies policy is a part of the drive to establish an Asean Economic Community by 2015. 

Garuda, which provides full service flights, has fallen behind budget airline Lion Air in recent years as Lion expands aggressively by signing multibillion dollar aircraft purchase agreements with Boeing and Airbus, securing the biggest single orders in the history of both manufacturers.

Other competitors include Malaysia’s AirAsia (AIRA), the biggest budget airline in Asia, which last year established a regional headquarters in the capital Jakarta, while Singapore’s Tiger Airways (TGR) and Indonesian private equity firm Saratoga recently completed an internal consolidation after acquiring Mandala in 2011.