*****UPDATE: We now understand that Garuda will be using one of its airline partners for the final leg of the flight from Amsterdam to London Heathrow. It means the airline will be operating non-stop Jakarta-Amsterdam-Jakarta only. Please bear this fact in mind until details and schedules are officially confirmed by Garuda.*****
Readers who had booked London flights with Garuda for later this year can rest easy.
It had been thought the Indonesian airline would be axing its Jakarta-London route altogether.
That was the conclusion that everybody had drawn from the fact that the non-stop London-Jakarta flights were now removed from Garuda’s seat inventory effective October 23.
Moreover staff at Garuda’s European headquarters had already told local media that London would be dropped from the network and henceforth Amsterdam would be the carrier’s sole (European) destination.
But a week is a long time in aviation and Garuda has a reputation for changing its mind at short notice.
This evening (Wednesday) in a series of tweets (@Garuda_UK) the airline announced that London would remain in its network.
However rather than flying to London non-stop three times a week the schedule would be changed to a six flights a week frequency but with an Amsterdam stop.
No further details are available.
All told, it means UK travellers gain a doubling of services with the only downside being the lengthier flight time via Amsterdam.
(Before Garuda launched non-stop flights from London Heathrow it used to operate via Amsterdam although arriving into Gatwick).
We await more details.
Garuda is advising travellers to contact the ticket office from whom they purchased their tickets.
UK travellers who have purchased tickets through the Garuda UK website are being told to email: [email protected] or to call 0062 212 3519999.
