Garuda Indonesia, the airline of Indonesia, will reintroduce services from Brisbane to Jakarta and Denpasar starting August 2013 after a five year break.

Announced by Garuda Indonesia president and CEO, Emirsyah Satar at the Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair in Jakarta, the new route is part of the airline's Quantum Leap strategy, which aims to boost the airline's competitiveness significantly by 2015.

Commenting on the new route, Bagus Y. Siregar, Vice President for Garuda Indonesia Australia and SWP said: "Australian travel to Indonesia is growing every year, with a 20% increase in passenger numbers in the first half of this year on the same period in 2011. We have also seen a significant growth in demand in Queensland, particularly in the leisure sector.

"We're very excited to be able to offer our Queensland customers the opportunity to fly direct to Indonesia on our Boeing 737-800 NextGen. Flights will operate six times per week from Brisbane via Denpasar to Jakarta, and cater to both the leisure and corporate market."

Speaking at the Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair, Emirsyah Satar also announced significant fleet expansion plans: "Next year we will receive 24 new aircraft comprising of four B777-300ER, ten B737-800 NextGen, two Airbus A330-200, one A330-300 and seven Bombardier CRJ-1000 NextGen. This will allow us to expand our domestic and international network."

Garuda Indonesia's network expansion plans have been boosted by the recently announced Etihad codeshare, which will see the airline's network increase from 19 international destinations to more than 80 cities in 50 countries, with almost 3,000 weekly flights covering Asia Pacific, Europe, The Middle East, Africa and North America.

For more information, please contact:

Franziska Kaestner or Sarah Corry, ICON International Communications

Tel: + 61 2 8235 7600

Mobile:  + 61 424 328 260 (Fran) + 61 450 803 881 (Sarah) 

fkaestner@iconinternational.com.au / scorry@iconinternational.com.au

About Garuda Indonesia

Garuda Indonesia, the airline of Indonesia, is a full-service network carrier and serves 43 domestic and 19 international destinations. The airline's main hubs in Indonesia are located in Jakarta and Denpasar. In July 2009, the airline unveiled a new aircraft fleet, new in-flight product, new service concept and a fresh corporate identity to mark the start of its transformation into one of Asia's most successful and profitable airlines.

Garuda Indonesia received its IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification in May 2008, recognising that the airline is fully compliant with global best-practice standards for flight operations, aircraft maintenance and safety management systems. In December 2009, the airline was also upgraded to a four-star rating by SkyTrax, the global benchmark for airline service standards, confirming the improvement in its front-line product and service quality. In January, February and July 2012, Garuda Indonesia was recognised as 'The Best International Airline' by Roy Morgan and more recently as 'The World's Best Regional Airline' as well as 'The Best Regional Airline in Asia' by SkyTrax.