Garuda Indonesia’s newest flight services to six destinations are a realization of the airline’s code sharing agreement with Etihad Airways,a carrier of the United Arab Emirates.

Following a code sharing agreement with United Arab Emirates’ carrier, Etihad Airways, on Sunday, December 2, 2012, Garuda Indonesia opened new services to six international destinations in Europe and the Middle East that are served by Etihad, namely London, Paris, Manchester, Moscow, Athens, and Muscat, via Garuda’s Abu Dhabi hub.

Garuda Indonesia also officially moved its international hub from Dubai (DXB) to Abu Dhabi (AUH) as part of efforts to expand its network and improve services towards its customers. The Abu Dhabi hub will facilitate Garuda in its code-sharing operations with Etihad in the western outbounds.

Garuda’s  inaguration flight from the Abu Dhabi hub, on Sunday, 2 December, served the Jakarta (CGK) - Amsterdam (AMS) route. GA 088 departed from Jakarta at 19.35 LT and arrived in Abu Dhabi on Monday, 3 December at 00.55 LT for a transit stop. The flight later left Abu Dhabi at 02.55 LT for Amsterdam arriving at the Dutch capital at 07.20 LT.

The AMS-CGK route is served by GA 089, which departed from Amsterdam on Monday, 3 December at 10.10 LT and arrived in Abu Dhabi at 19.45. GA 089 departed from Abu Dhabi at 21.15 LT and arrived in Jakarta at 08.25 LT.

Garuda Indonesia flies via Abu Dhabi from Jakarta to Amsterdam four times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 19.35 LT using a 222 passenger capacity Airbus 330-200, with a seating configuration of 36 passengers in Executive class and 186 passengers in Economy class.

PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. President & CEO Emirsyah Satar said the decision to move the hub is propelled by the desire to raise the quality of service towards customers, in continuation of the codeshare agreement signed with Etihad Airways on October 18, 2011 and which has been in effect sin since 28 October 2011.
The opening of the Abu Dhabi hub will facilitate passengers who wish to travel to more than 80 destinations served by Etihad Airways in 50 cities in Europe, North America, the Middle East dan Africa,” he added.

As partner, Garuda Indonesia will support Etihad Airways’ network development in the eastern regions, while Etihad Airways will endorse Garuda Indonesia’s expansion in the western outbounds, namely destinations beyond Abu Dhabi.

The codeshare agreement covers several aspects , such as “passenger codeshare, cargo co-operation, airport service improvement, Engineering/Maintenance, Lounge and “Frequent Flyer Program”. This commercial agreement is part of Garuda Indonesia’s “Quantum Leap 2011–2015” network expansion program.

In this cooperation, Garuda Indonesia will act as “marketing party”, selling Etihad Airways’ tickets for more than 27 destinations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa. The cities are: Paris, London, Frankfurt, Milan, Munich, Manchester, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Geneva, Brussels, and Athens in Europe; New York, Toronto, Chicago in the North American region, Domodevo in Russia, Cairo, Johannesburg and Nairobi in Africa; and Jeddah, Muscat, Dammam, Riyadh, Amman, Istanbul, Bahrain, Kuwait and Beirut in the Middle East.

Thanks to this cooperation Etihad Airways passengers will be connected with Garuda Indonesia’s network of services across the Indonesian archipelago, Asia, Australia and Japan. Etihad Airways will also serve as a “marketing party” and will be able to sell Garuda Indonesia tickets on the following routes: Jakarta - Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta – Abu Dhabi, and to major cities in Indonesia, such as Surabaya, Denpasar, Manado, Makassar and Balikpapan (from Jakarta).