JAKARTA – Garuda Indonesia, the flag carrier of Indonesia, signed an agreement to join the SkyTeam airline alliance in 2012. Garuda will expand SkyTeam’s presence in Southeast Asia, adding 30 new destinations to the alliance network.
Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and a fast growing emerging market. SkyTeam is actively working to grow its presence in the region and Garuda is a very welcome addition to the alliance. Garuda has a broad Indonesian and regional network and is able to offer additional coverage and improved connections to the Asia Pacific. Some of the 30 new destinations in the SkyTeam network are Surabaya in East Java, Medan in North Sumatra and Perth in Australia.
“Joining SkyTeam is a long-term development strategy for Garuda Indonesia, and for years we have been upgrading our service and actively forging cooperation with SkyTeam member airlines with this objective in mind,” said Emirsyah Satar, President and CEO of Garuda.“ As the first Indonesian airline to join this world-class alliance, our strategic target is to continuously strengthen profitability and boost international market competitiveness”.
“Jakarta will serve as an alternate gateway to and from Asia,”said SkyTeam managing director M. Marie-Joseph Malé. “Garuda’s consideration to expand its intercontinental network to Frankfurt, Paris, London and Rome will make the airline an increasingly attractive option for business and leisure travellers”.
Garuda already cooperates extensively with Korean Air, Vietnam Airlines, China Southern and China Airlines and will establish additional codeshare agreements with other SkyTeam partners.The joining process leading to full entry into SkyTeam is expected to be completed by 2012.