Garuda is set to resume direct flights between Jakarta and Auckland.
Garuda Indonesia president and CEO Emirsyah Satar and Auckland Airport chairwoman Joan Withers have signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ which will see the Indonesian flag-carrier return to New Zealand six years after the airline left the land of the long white cloud.
Satar was unable to specify when flights would commence, saying only that Garuda will begin the direct service “as soon as market conditions and aircraft availability allow”.
The airline placed an order for eleven Airbus A330-300s last week – the first of which is due for delivery in 2013 – which combined with a previous order of 10 of the same aircraft will more than double the size of its current A330 fleet.
Each of the new A330s will be fitted with Garuda’s fully flat bed in business class, which Australian Business Traveller found impressive when combined with solid service and “a well thought-through meal” when we reviewed Garuda’s Sydney-Jakarta flight last year.
Garuda’s expanded push for regional business travellers will see the debut of new routes such as Jakarta to Taipei in May, with the airline joining the SkyTeam alliance layer this year.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 May 2011
Total posts 362
I thought it was Auckland - Denpasar?
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2561
Everything we got from the MoU said Auckland-Jakata - but some reports from NZ media also cited that Air New Zealand would start 'Auckland-Bali' in June, which means Denpasar - perhaps that's what you saw?
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