Garuda, foreign carriers deal

JAKARTA (JP): National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has tied up with four overseas airlines, Korean Air, Air France, China Airlines and Martin Air of the Netherlands for the handling of its cargo services.

Garuda said Saturday that the cooperation was aimed at meeting rising market demand and to improve its efficiency, since Garuda does not used its own cargo aircraft on international routes.

The company operates two B737-200 freighters for domestic cargo flights.

Under the agreement with Korean Air, Garuda will receive a cargo capacity of up to 35 tons in Korean Air's MD-11 freighter and A-300 freighter every Monday and Thursday for the Batam- Jakarta-Seoul route.

The agreement between Garuda and China Airlines will enable Garuda to have 20-tons of cargo capacity every Monday on the Jakarta-Taipei-Los Angeles route.

Garuda will also have a 30-ton cargo capacity on Air France's B747-200 freighter on Wednesday traveling from Jakarta to Paris via Kuala Lumpur.

The cooperation between Garuda and Martin Air will enable Garuda to have 30 tons of cargo capacity on Martin Air's B747-200 freighter every Tuesday on its Jakarta-Amsterdam route.

To move the cargo to other European cities destinations Garuda will use land transportation. (gis)