Garuda To Expand Flight Service To China

Denpasar (Antara Bali) - Indonesia`s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has officially opened new route from International Airport of Ngurah Rai, Bali, to Chengdu as part of its expansion of service to China.

The new route was officially commissioned by Garuda`s Commercial and Information Technology Director Nina Sulistyowati and Cargo Director Sigit Muhartono at the International Airport of Ngurah Rai, here on Tuesday.

"The Chinese market is important in the expansion of international market by Garuda Indonesia, which hopes to grab a significant share of the huge market. There are around 100 million Chinese traveling abroad every year . We are very optimistic we could get the maximum share of the market after the opening of the new route," Nina Sulistyowati said.

She said in 2016, Garuda Indonesia had a 25 percent share of the flights between China and Indonesia, adding Garuda is optimistic the share would increase this year.

The round trip from Denpasar to Chengdu would be 4 times a week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday using Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

On Monday , the takeoff from Denpasar would be at 19.55 local time to arrive in Chengdu at 02.25 local time . On Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, the takeoff would be at 20.00 local time with arrival in Chengdu at 02.25 local time.

The flights from Chengdu to Denpasar are on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday with takeoff at 04.10 local time to arrive at Ngurah Rai at 09.55 local time using Airbus A330-300, which has a seat capacity of 287 including 24 seats of business class.

Garuda Indonesia already serves a number of other route between the two countries including Jakarta -Guangzhou round trip, Jakarta -Beijing, Jakarta-Shanghai, Denpasar-Beijing, Denpasar-Guangzhou, and Denpasar-Shanghai.

The Denpasar -Chengdu flight is to meet demand in Denpasar for flights to Chengdu and to facilitate growing number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali.

Ngurah Rai would be a hub port for Chinese tourists to visit other tourist destinations in the country such as Yogyakarta, Ujung Pandang (Makassar), Menado and Labuan Bajo.

Garuda Indonesia will link the two cities with world class service and would employ Chinese cabin crew to make communications easier with the passengers.

As a five-star airline, Garuda Indonesia, will continue to show typical Indonesian hospitality, Nina said.

Chengdu is the capital city of the province of Sichuan, which borders on Tibet. Sichaun is known as home for Panda. There is a research center and protection and breeding place for the rare animal in the city`s outskirt. The facility and Panda draw foreign tourists to Chengdu , which is also known for varieties of foods

Currently, Garuda Indonesia serves more than 77 destinations in the world . Including domestic flights it has 600 flights everyday. It has a fleet of 199 units of aircraft 5 years old on the average.

Garuda Indonesia is a member of SkyTeam, a global alliance grouping 20 airlines serving more than 16,320 flights everyday with 1,052 destinations in 177 countries . (WDY)