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.