ABU DHABI / WAM
Etihad Airways, the UAE national airline, and Garuda Indonesia, the national flag carrier of Indonesia, announced they are strengthening their partnership between Abu Dhabi and Jakarta and beyond their respective hubs.
The scope of the partners’ codeshare agreement, first signed in 2012, will be significantly expanded to nearly double the number of combined destinations Etihad and Garuda can offer beyond the Abu Dhabi and Jakarta hubs, with 42 destinations across the Indonesian archipelago, South East Asia, Middle East, US and Europe now covered by the agreement.
In addition, the partners offer reciprocal miles accrual and redemption opportunities to members of Etihad Guest and GarudaMiles across both airline’s networks and will further engage both member bases through joint marketing activities.
The carriers intend to explore further areas of collaboration in the light of current market opportunities and company requirements, including cargo, maintenance, repair and overhaul, and pilot/crew training services.
The partners signed an MoU covering these areas of discussion on the sidelines of the B20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.
Antonoaldo Neves, Group CEO of Etihad Airways, said, “This expansion will serve as a platform for what we envision will be a deep ongoing partnership between our two airlines. We look forward to exploring comprehensive and pragmatic ways in which the two carriers can increase collaboration, enhance benefits and customer experience for our most frequent travellers and further extend the reach of our joint networks beyond our hubs.
“This reflects Etihad’s continued drive for commercial sustainability and is part of our broader partnership strategy, which enables Etihad guests to access nearly 400 cities worldwide, in addition to Etihad’s operating network.â€
Irfan Setiaputra, President and CEO of Garuda Indonesia, said, “As a national flag carrier, it is our main focus to connect Indonesia with the world, providing a coherent relation to a wide range of diversity of
nature and cultural richness throughout the archipelago.â€
With both airlines’ extensive networks worldwide and nationally, we believe that this extended partnership will not only give added value to Garuda Indonesia’s passengers to access popular destinations across the globe, but will also offer a range of domestic destinations, especially in the area of East Indonesia for Etihad’s passengers.”