Garuda Indonesia has resumed operations in Europe, following a six-year gap that included a two-year ban imposed by the European Union (EU) on Indonesian carriers.
The Jakarta-Dubai-Amsterdam flight took off on Tuesday evening and arrived in Amsterdam on Wednesday morning following a stopover in Dubai. The flight is scheduled to take 16 hours and 40 minutes, from take-off to arrival.
This is the first Garuda flight into European airspace since late 2004. The re-opened route comes less than a year after EU officials cleared the national flag carrier to return. In 2007, the EU imposed a blanket ban after a series of aviation accidents involving various Indonesian airlines.
Garuda is using its revamped Airbus 330-200 aircraft on the route. The aircraft has 36 executive class seats, featuring fully flat beds, and 186 economy class seats.
A Garuda spokesman said the airline also planned to open other European routes to the key hubs of Frankfurt, London, Paris and Rome.
Garuda president Emirsyah Satar said: “We are coming back with a premium product, new aircraft and great services. The market is big enough because there are people wanting to visit Indonesia and Indonesians traveling to Europe.”
www.garuda-indonesia.com
Kenny Coyle?
