Garuda to open new routes to Singapore

Garuda to open new routes to Singapore

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Beginning March 28, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia
will open three new routes linking two cities in Sumatra and two
cities in Java to Singapore, a company spokesman said.

Garuda Indonesia corporate communications vice president
Pujobroto said on Monday the new routes were the result of the
company's focus on market expansion.

"They (the new routes) are part of this year's program, which
is to expand our network in the regional market," said Pujo.

The first route will connect Pekanbaru in Riau province and
Padang in West Sumatra with Singapore. The second route will link
Semarang in Central Java with Singapore, and the last new route
will provide direct flights from Yogyakarta, also in Central
Java, to the island republic.

The Padang-Pekanbaru-Singapore route will operate four times a
week, the Semarang-Singapore route also four times a week and the
Yogyakarta-Singapore route three times a week.

All flights will be served by 110-seat Boeing 737-300
aircraft, which include 16 business-class seats and 94 economy
class.

Pujo said there were currently no direct flights from the
three cities to Singapore, the top destination in Southeast Asia,
forcing travelers from the three cities to transit in Denpasar
before continuing on to Singapore.

"Demand in the three cities is growing, which led us to the
decision to open the new routes," he said.

He added that the airline would keep a close eye on the
performance of the new routes.

"Should the demand from those cities stay stable, or even
increase, we will probably add more flights," he said.

On Feb. 21, Garuda Indonesia also launched a direct flight
from Yogyakarta to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.