Garuda and Northwest set up alliance

Garuda and Northwest set up alliance

JAKARTA (JP): National air carrier Garuda Indonesia has set up
an alliance with the United States' Northwest Airlines in a bid
to improve services.

Northwest's managing director for Southeast Asia and greater
China, James P. Reinnoldt, said here yesterday that through the
alliance his company could serve Indonesia without even flying
here.

"Based on a commercial cooperation agreement signed by
Northwest and Garuda, the two airlines will coordinate schedules
and connections between flight networks linking points in
Indonesia with points in the United States," he said during a
workshop here yesterday.

The alliance, the first of its kind between an American and
Indonesian air carrier, included code-share flights, world perks
Frequent Fliers Program (FFP) cooperation, seat purchase
programs, promotional cooperation and reciprocal handling
programs, he said.

He said some details still had to be finalized before the
official operation began. It is expected to commence later this
year.

Reinnoldt said that any alliance between airlines would
benefit the participating airlines.

"In our case, Garuda's FFP will be more competitive than any
other airline as they can combine Northwest's FFP."

Alliances between airlines have became a trend in the aviation
industry to create synergy in cost savings, market access,
product development, route expansion and schedule coordination,
he said.

"There are currently over 300 alliances, involving 160
airlines," he said.

Northwest originally planned to fly to Jakarta via Osaka. The
service, which should have commenced in July last year, was
canceled due to an unsettled aviation dispute between Japan and
the United States.

Hundreds of passengers from Jakarta to Osaka had to be
diverted by Northwest to Garuda after the cancellation.

Talks between Japan and the U.S. continue.

"Air fares in Japan are very expensive and Japan is very
protective of its domestic industry," Reinnoldt said when asked
why the talks were so time consuming.

Northwest would like to serve Indonesia via Osaka as the
Japanese city is one of the American carrier's hubs. From there
passengers can fly to Seattle, New York, Washington, Detroit, Los
Angeles or Honolulu.

Reinnoldt said his company had won approval from Indonesia and
the U.S. to fly four times a week to Jakarta.

Garuda flies from Jakarta to Los Angeles, via Honolulu, five
times a week. The national carrier also flies to four Japanese
cities: Nagoya, Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka.

Reinnoldt said yesterday that Northwest, which flies only to
Manila, Bangkok and Singapore in Southeast Asia, also proposed
flying to Kuala Lumpur. (icn)