REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Garuda Indonesia announced on Friday that it had chosen Gatwick to operate direct flights between London and Jakarta, one of South East Asia’s largest hub airports. This will make Gatwick the only UK airport to connect passengers directly to the largest economy in South East Asia. 

“This flight will be more convenient since it will be serving passengers - non-stop - from Jakarta to London with the brand new B777-300ER, which will be equipped with Wi-Fi and a chef on board for First Class passengers," Garuda Indonesia’s President and CEO, Emirsyah Satar, said, cited on a press statement by Gatwick Airport,. 

“We chose Gatwick, London as the UK airport because of its convenience and good network and accessibility options into Europe and beyond," Satar added. 

From the fourth quarter of 2013, business and leisure passengers will be able to fly direct between Indonesia and the UK six times per week. Garuda Indonesia will operate Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft capable of carrying over 300 passengers. The UK is now one of the largest markets to Indonesia with 160,000 people currently travelling to the region on business and leisure.

Indonesia is an increasingly important market for the UK. Bilateral trade is growing and in April 2012, during Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Indonesia, a partnership commitment to double trade (goods & services) by 2015 to 4.4 billion pounds was announced. 

Mr Cameron said, "We want to link Britain up with the world's fastest growing economies. And good air links are vital to achieving that. This new route from London to Jakarta is good for British business and will help them to compete in the global race."

Satar said that the new Jakarta-London direct flight would complement the existing Jakarta – Abu Dhabi-Amsterdam route, as part of the airline's Quantum Leap 2011-2015 programme to develop the international network and become a ‘global player’. 

The Jakarta-London direct flight is also expected to open up direct access from South East Asia to Europe and vice versa. In addition to the new London route, this year the airline will also open new Auckland and Brisbane routes. 

Garuda Indonesia has also expanded its flight network to Europe through codeshare agreements with other international airlines, including Etihad Airways, which enables passengers to fly into seven major cities across Europe. 

The Indonesian Ambassador to the UK, Teuku Mohammad Hamzah Thayeb, has welcomed the initiative of Garuda Indonesia to resume the Jakarta-London route in the fourth quarter of 2013.  “This route will certainly increase passenger and cargo traffic -not only between the two countries- but also from Europe to Indonesia and likewise in return" he said.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika