(Sydney: 07 September 2010): Indonesia's national carrier, Garuda Indonesia, will introduce a new daily direct service to Jakarta from Sydney, from December 20, 2010. Increasing the existing capacity by four flights a week, daily departures ex Sydney will provide travellers with more choice and convenience when connecting via Jakarta into Indonesia and beyond.
Commenting on the new daily service, Bagus Y. Siregar, Senior General Manager Australia/SWP Garuda Indonesia said: "Garuda Indonesia's reputation and image is changing rapidly due to the airline's fleet growth and network expansion. The new direct daily flights to Jakarta will provide our customers with improved accessibility to the airline's vast Asian network as well as to the daily Amsterdam via Dubai service, introduced in August 2010.
"While there is no doubt Garuda Indonesia remains committed to our valued leisure customers, we are also increasingly targeting the corporate traveller with Jakarta now positioned as an alternate gateway into Asia and Europe. With future plans to expand the airline's European network to include Frankfurt, Paris, London and Rome, there is no doubt that Garuda Indonesia is an increasingly attractive option for business travellers."
Daily flights will be operated by Garuda Indonesia's new fleet of A330-200 aircraft also currently servicing the three times weekly Melbourne-Jakarta route. The aircraft all feature Garuda Indonesia's new signature interior and individual touch-screen LCD TVs throughout business and economy classes with Video on Demand (VOD) entertainment systems offering 25 feature films and 250 audio tracks. Business class passengers will experience fully lie-flat beds.
About Garuda Indonesia
Garuda Indonesia is the national airline of Indonesia. It is a full-service network carrier and serves 28 domestic and 18 international destinations. The airline's main hubs in Indonesia are located in Jakarta and Denpasar. In July 2009, the airline unveiled a new aircraft fleet, new in-flight product, new service concept and a fresh corporate identity to mark the start of its transformation into one of Asia's most successful and profitable airlines. Garuda Indonesia received its IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification in May 2008, recognising that the airline is fully compliant with global best-practice standards for flight operations, aircraft maintenance and safety management systems. In December 2009, the airline was also upgraded to a four-star rating by Skytrax, the global benchmark for airline service standards, confirming the improvement in its front-line product and service quality. Garuda Indonesia became the first Indonesian airline to reopen flights to Europe after the European Union's (E.U) ban prohibiting Indonesian carriers from operating in European airspace was lifted in July 2009.
