Melbourne passengers to benefit from additional services to Australia's favourite holiday destination

Garuda Indonesia, the airline of Indonesia, has announced a new daily direct service between Denpasar from Melbourne beginning 01 April 2013. Increasing the existing capacity by two flights a week, daily departures ex Melbourne will provide travellers with more choice and convenience when visiting Bali and beyond.

Commenting on the new daily service, Bagus Y. Siregar, Vice President for Garuda Indonesia Australia and SWP said: "This year we are continuing to provide better service for our customers across Australia. With leisure travel to Bali increasing across our Australian ports, we are excited to offer improved accessibility on this route to one of Indonesia's tourism hotspots."

Melbourne Airport CEO, Mr Chris Woodruff said: "Indonesia is one of our closest neighbours and also an important market for Victoria so we are delighted that Garuda Indonesia is introducing daily services to Denpasar. We look forward to continue working with Garuda Indonesia to improve our business and tourism ties as well as provide more choice for travellers."

The daily flights, which are bookable now, will depart Melbourne on GA719 at 9.50am and arrive in Denpasar at 1.00pm local time. The introduction of this new daily service comes after a string of service and network expansions by the airline; including the reintroduction of the Brisbane service, daily flights from Perth to Jakarta, and the airline's codeshare agreement with Etihad which has most recently seen the addition of six new codeshare destinations in the Middle East and Europe.

For all travel bookings contact your preferred travel agent or call Garuda Indonesia on 1300 365 330 or visit www.garuda-indonesia.net.au.

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

NB: Flight schedules are subject to change.

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.