GARUDA Indonesia and Etihad Airways started new codeshare flights between Jakarta and Perth on June 28.
The new daily service adds 2,184 seats per week between the two cities, and increases Garuda’s services between Indonesia (Jakarta and Denpasar) and Australia (Melbourne, Sydney and Perth) to 42 flights a week.
Operated via a two-class Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with 12 business-class seats and 144 economy, the service also allows passengers from Australia to connect through Jakarta and Abu Dhabi to both airlines’ global networks such as the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, and vice versa.
In a press statement, Etihad Airways’ president and CEO, James Hogan, said: “The Jakarta-Perth route adds a new dimension to our partnership with Garuda Indonesia, which has developed in a mutually beneficial way since its signing last October – particularly in terms of operational and cost efficiencies.”
Garuda’s director of marketing and sales, Erik Meijer, said the opening of the Jakarta-Perth service was part of the airline’s network expansion, especially in the South-west Pacific area, giving more options for travellers to Australia.
Meijer added: “We commenced the direct flight in response to growing demand, especially from business travellers, (providing them) a flight duration of not more than five hours (between Jakarta and Perth).”
Just late last year, the two airlines had entered into a codeshare deal, with Etihad placing its EY code on Garuda’s services from Jakarta to Denpasar and Kuala Lumpur, and Garuda placing its GA code on Etihad’s flights from Jakarta to three African, seven Middle Eastern, 13 European and three North American destinations (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 22, 2012).
