Garuda gains edge on Kangaroo route with direct Jakarta-London flights

Garuda will soon fly cut out the Singapore stop to fly direct to Heathrow

Garuda Indonesia will soon become the only airline connecting Indonesia to the UK and Europe in under 15 hours when it launches its nonstop Jakarta-London Heathrow service on October 31, according to president and CEO Pahala Nugraha Mansury.

The Jakarta-London Heathrow service commenced last year, but with a stop in Singapore, while the return flight was direct to Jakarta.

Garuda will soon fly cut out the Singapore stop to fly direct to Heathrow

Eric Chan, senior sales officer, Garuda, Hong Kong explained that the stop in Singapore was necessary as the Jakarta airport runway was then unable to accommodate the Boeing 777-300 ER for takeoff at full capacity.

“Now, with the new terminal and improved runway, we can offer direct service both ways,” he said, in an interview at the recent PATA Travel Mart in Hong Kong.

Chan said this gives the airline a competitive edge against other Asian airlines such as Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific on the Kangaroo route.

By cutting out the Singapore stop and stopping in Jakarta, passengers from Australia save about four hours, according to Pahala.

“Besides, the service will make it more convenient for travellers from UK and the surrounding area to fly to the Pacific Asia, especially (along the) Kangaroo route to Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, as the Jakarta-London service is well connected with our flights to Australia.”

The thrice-weekly service will be operated with the Boeing 777-300 ER, which can carry 314 passengers in three classes.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. I feel that the information reported here is not correct – based on the schedules currently loaded….perhaps these will change.
    When I checked Garuda’s IBE for the period November 1 to 10, I found:
    Perth to London, one stop, no flights
    Melbourne to London, one stop, two flights on Nov. 4 & 7 with a total travel time of 23 hours 30 mins.
    Sydney to London, one stop, flights on Nov. 1, 3, 6, 8 & 10, with total travel time of 41 hours & 30 minutes and 43 hours and 30 minutes.
    The quickest travel with SQ (same dates) are:
    Melbourne to London, every day, 22hours and 55 minutes
    Sydney to London, every day, 23 hours and 10 minutes.
    For Cathay Pacific, on the same dates, the quickest flights were:
    Melbourne to London, everyday, 24 hours and 25 minutes
    Sydney to London, everyday, 24 hours and 10 minutes.
    So rather than Garuda offering quicker one-stop flights to London, I could get there quicker (from Melbourne) on SQ and from Sydney with both SQ and CX.

  2. Good to hear that the Jakarta Runway is now upgraded. This will surely mean that the Indonesian civil aviation authorities will now give Singapore Airlines approval for the Sydney to Jakarta route.

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