Garuda Indonesia is Indonesia's national airline, headquartered at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in the nation's capital of Jakarta. It is currently Indonesia's second-largest airline, after Lion Air.
The airline was founded in 1947, where it was called KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf and was nationalised in December 1949 along with a new name 'Garuda Indonesian Airways'. The airline operated flights for national interests during its beginning, often involving carrying diplomats onboard. It was also supported by the Burmese government during its early years, with charter flights used to support the airline. Garuda was officially incorporated with KLM in 1950.
During the 1960s, the airline grew and expanded its fleet and network. This growth continued into the 70s, 80s and 90s until the late 90s and early 00s which brought a difficult time for the airline. However, the airline soon recovered from its economic problems. By 2014, the airline had fully recovered, being one of seven airlines to earn a Skytrax 5-star rating.
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Your baggage allowance will depend on the destination that you're flying to/from and the ticket fare you purchased.
The maximum size for cabin baggage on Garuda Indonesia flights is 56cm x 36cm x 23cm (22in x 14in x 9in) which must not exceed 115cm / 45inches in total and must not weigh any more than 7kg / 15lbs.
If you're flying First Class, you're permitted 40kg / 88lbs of baggage. If you're flying Business Class, you're allowed 30kg / 66lbs. If you're flying Economy, you're allowed 20kg / 44lbs of free baggage allowance.
Regardless of class, each item of baggage must not exceed 32kg / 70lbs in weight.
On international flights, First Class passengers are allowed 50kg / 110lbs of baggage allowance. If you're flying First and travelling from JED/MED, you're additionally allowed 5L of Zamzam water, or if you're travelling from JP, you'll be permitted 64kg / 140 lbs of baggage.
Business Class passengers travelling from JED/MED are permitted 40kg / 88lbs baggage, plus 5L of Zamzam water, those flying from JP are allowed 64kg / 140 lbs of baggage, and those flying from the US are allowed 2 x 32kg / 70lbs.
If you're flying on an Economy faire, you'll be dependent on a lot more rules set out by where your ticket was issued, and where you are flying to or from. Please check your ticket or booking confirmation to see how much baggage you are permitted on your flight.
When flying with Garuda Indonesia you can choose to fly in Economy, Business or First Class.
Garuda Indonesia's Economy Class was rated the world's best economy class by SkyTrax in 2013.
USB and power outlets are included in Garuda Indonesia's Economy Class facilities. Other facilities are in-flight entertainment during your journey, Western, Asian or Indonesian meals (dependant on the flight route) and a selection of cold and hot drinks.
Garuda Indonesia's Economy Class seating includes plenty of legroom for a spacious feel, with a footrest and reclining features.
Although there is no official premium economy class onboard this airline's planes, Garuda Indonesia offers Premium seats as part of the seat selection service, with more space and comfort on selected flights and all routes flying to/from London.
Garuda Indonesia Business Class offers reclining seats for optimum comfort which are equipped with USB and power outlets and a 15" touchscreen for in-flight entertainment. Business Class passengers will also be provided with a Hypoallergenic pillow, plush duvet and a L'occitane amenity kit. The meals and light snacks available on Garuda Indonesia's Business Class service are prepared by qualified chefs with experience in 5-star establishments.
The reclining seats in Business Class have a seat pitch of 43", and a seat width of 21.2". The recline of these seats is so great that they actually recline into a lie-flat bed.
Each First Class cabin consists of eight private suites that are in 1-2-1 formation.
Each suite has a sliding door for privacy, a specially designed 82-inch pitch and a 22 inch width seat that transforms into a full-flat bed with a comfortable mattress and bedding.
Each suite has a personal wardrobe, reading lights, a personal 23.5 inch LCD TV fitted with full inflight entertainment, a touch screen seat control unit and an adjustable table for dining.
Passengers flying First Class are provided with slippers and loungewear, a premium amenity kit, stationery, toiletries and the option to order from food and beverages, which are freshly prepared by the airlines' professional chefs.
Garuda Indonesia has a First Class lounge at Jakarta airport (Soekarno-Hatta International Airport) which is exclusive for First Class passengers. First Class passengers will be met by the First Class Assistant or Butler at the airport's Drop Zone Area and assist you through an exclusive check-in experience and security before taking you to the First Class lounge.
The lounge itself has a wide selection of complimentary food and beverage options, Wi-Fi and an indoor spa.
During your Garuda Indonesia flight, you can enjoy a variety of different audio and video entertainment on an LCD TV touch screen.
Garuda Indonesia offers hilarious family-friendly sitcoms and much more to help you pass the time onboard your Garuda flight.
The movie selection onboard Garuda Indonesia flights is regularly updated with new content to keep even frequent flyers entertained.
If you'd like to take your eyes away from the screen, you can also read Garuda Indonesia's in-flight magazine called 'Colours' which is the official publication of Garuda Indonesia.
Passengers can stay connected onboard Garuda flights with the in-flight connectivity package of WiFi. This means passengers can access social media and emails in the sky, staying connected with friends, family or business associates.
WiFi is only available on the Boeing 777-300 ER, Airbus A330-200/300 and Airbus A330-900 neo.
First-class passengers can access this free of charge, as it is included in the price of their ticket. Executive and Economy class passengers can purchase the WiFI package for a period of time or the whole flight.
Garuda Indonesia offers a number of in-flight meal options so don't worry about bringing your own food.
Passengers in Garuda Indonesia First Class will receive Indonesian and International cuisines, which will be prepared fresh by your onboard dedicated chef. For passengers in Business class, they will receive dishes inspired by world favourites, all prepared by qualified chefs from 5-star restaurants. Economy passengers will get the choice of Indonesian, Western and Asian menus (dependent on availability on routes). Specific meal choices will depend on the type of aircraft, route flying and duration of your flight.
For passengers with special dietary, health or religious requirements, a special meal can be provided by Garuda Indonesia for flights. These meals must be ordered at least 24 hours before your flight departure time, and can be ordered by contacting us or Garuda Indonesia directly.
For domestic routes, meals can be ordered on all routes with hot meal service from the following selection: Child meal, Fruit Platter Meal, Vegetarian Vegan Meal.
For international routes, the following meals are available to order, but some restrictions on routes may apply so check with Garuda Indonesia when ordering your special meal:
Garuda Indonesia provides passengers with a wide selection of hot and cold drinks. In more premium cabins, this selection will include vintage wines, cocktails, champagnes and liqueurs.
Garuda Indonesia has different check-in opening and closing times depending on whether your flight is domestic or international, as well as your method of check-in.
You can check in for your Garuda Indonesia flights online. Domestic flights will be open from 48 hours to 2 hours before departure. International flights will open for check-in 48 hours before flying, closing 4 hours before the flight is due to depart.
You can check in online on the Garuda Indonesia website.
You can also check in via the Garuda Indonesia mobile app, starting 48 hours and ending 2 hours before the flight for domestic flights, and 48 hours to 4 hours for international flights.
As well as online and mobile check-in, you can phone the Garuda Indonesia Call Centre and check in there for your flights. This will be available from 24 hours to 4 hours before the flight is due to depart.
Check-in using the airport's self-service kiosk is available from 4 hours to 1 hour before the plane's departure. Group passengers, international flight passengers, passengers with an Eco-Basic ticket and passengers who need special assistance are not able to use the check-in kiosks. This is currently only available at selected airports.
This is available at the domestic Garuda Indonesia Sales Office and is available 48 to 4 hours before departure.
You can alternatively visit the airline check-in desk at the airport. From Jakarta airport, this will be open from 120-45 minutes before departure for domestic flights, or 180-60 minutes before for international flights. For any other airport besides Jakarta, this will open 120-30 minutes before departure for domestic flights, or 180-45 minutes before departure for international flights.
Garuda Indonesia's frequent flyer programme is called 'GarudaMiles'.
Garuda Indonesia's Frequent Flyer Program, GarudaMiles, allows passengers to earn miles every time they fly. The miles you accumulate can then be redeemed for Award tickets to your preferred destination. Miles can also be used to upgrade to Business Class on your chosen flight. Awards are also transferable, which means you can choose to give them to your friends or family.
Garuda Indonesia joined the SkyTeam Alliance in 2011 as the 20th global member. This added an additional 40 destinations to the SkyTeam global network, and strengthened its presence in Southeast Asia and Australia.
SkyTeam currently has 19 members serving over 670 million passengers each year with over 1,000 destinations in 170 countries served.
Passengers are requested to contact the airline at least at the time of booking, if not before, for any special assistance required for their flight. This could include requests for transporting medical equipment, travelling with a wheelchair or mobility chair, or travelling with a portable hearing aid.
The airline flies scheduled flights from its base in Jakarta to a number of destinations in Asia, Australia, Europe as well as domestic flights within Indonesia.
Please click on the logos below to find out more about airlines that fly similar routes to Garuda Indonesia:
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Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is the main airport serving the Jakarta area on the island of Java, Indonesia. The airport operates as a hub for Garuda Indonesia, but also for Aviastar, Batik Air, Cardig Air, Citilink, Express Air, Indonesia AirAsia, Lion Air and Sriwijaya Air. The airport has two runways and in 2019, handled over 80 million passengers becoming the 18th busiest airport in the world.
Other airlines which fly to and from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport include Air China, Air France, All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, Cebu Pacific, EgyptAir, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines, Pelita Air Service, among many others.
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The passenger fleet currently consists of 140 aircraft in service, with another 13 on order. Garuda Airlines fleet currently includes:
18th June 2018
Garuda Indonesia has been removed from Europe's list of banned airlines — along with other Indonesian airlines — as the EU put in place a new system that will evaluate which aircraft are deemed safe enough to fly within and throughout Europe. The new system is being run by Eurocontrol, which is an air traffic control company that cover 41 member and two comprehensive agreement states.
Garuda Indonesia was granted access to fly in Europe after the whole of Indonesia passed an International Civil Aviation Organisation audit which saw Garuda Indonesia, along with two other Indonesian airlines, being given a seven-star safety rating. Garuda Indonesia has been banned from flying in Europe since 2007, when all Indonesian airlines were deemed unsafe to fly in the continent. However, after Garuda Indonesia's extremely high safety rating, the EU air travel executives can see no reason why the airline shouldn't be able to fly in European airspace.
4th June 2018
After some internal conflict between management and employees of Garuda Indonesia, it appeared as if employees of the airlines — including pilot and cabin crew — were going to go on strike. However, according to Luhut Pandjaitan, the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister of Indonesia, there will no longer be a strike. Luhut Pandjaitan claims that those involved with the airline have met to settle their issues and that regularly scheduled services will continue as normal. Luhut has played a role in getting Garuda Indonesia and its employees to get back on track, he reportedly told the airline to prioritise resolving their issues to ensure that customers do not suffer from their actions.
Luhut Pandjiatan stated that he was confident that as long as Garuda Indonesian employees felt as if management were listening to their frustrations, there would be no strike. He stated that those involved have now met, management has listened to Garuda Indonesia staff and the strike will not happen.
31st May 2018
Garuda Indonesia are planning to add 64,100 seats for Eid Holiday, according to Corporate Secretary of Garuda Indonesia, Hengki Heriandono. The additional seats are to be part of an extra 288 flights that Garuda Indonesia will operate between 8th June and 24th June 2018.
Heriandono said that they have already received permission from authorities and they look to operate most flights out of Jakarta to a number of domestic destinations. For international flights, Garuda Indonesia plans to fly additional routes to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur. He added that passengers tend to book their flights for Eid close ahead of Eid Day as they first need to get their religious holiday allowance approved.
25th May 2018
Garuda Indonesia are to start selling a new low-budget airline class ticket named 'Eco Basic'. The Eco Basic ticket is said to offer the lowest fares on Garuda Indonesia flights, only slightly above the lower limit price rate that was set by the Ministry of Transportation. Garuda Indonesia Service Director, Nicodemus P. Lampe, has said that there will only be 12 Eco Basic seats available per flight with the airline.
With 44 different services available for passengers to book an Eco Basic class ticket with, passengers will be able to buy Eco Basic tickets with Garuda Indonesia starting Monday 28th May 2018.
21st May 2018
Garuda Indonesia and its low-cost subsidiary, Scoot, both placed top three in the Official Airlines Guide's list of most punctual airlines for April 2018. Citilink earned the top spot, placing first. The airline was on time for 89.02% of their flights last month, beating second-placed airline, Scoot, who scored 85.4%. Citilink operated a total of 8,590 fights last month.
Garuda Indonesia placed third, with 85.1% of their flights arriving on time, with no delays.
10th May 2018
Garuda Indonesia will launch a direct flight that will fly between Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM), Mumbai, and Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS), Bali. The service will operate with the Airbus A300-200 aircraft and is expected to take 7 hours and 35 minutes. This service is the first non-stop flight between Mumbai and Bali. Garuda Indonesia CEO stated that the addition of a direct route will hopefully attract Indians to Bali, plus it will make great connections to Lombok, Jogjakarta, and Labuan Bajo.
21st April 2018
Flight GA 204, a service from Jakarta to Yogyakarta, took flight today with a team made up from entirely female employees. Everyone from the pilot to the ground and cabin crew were female, an idea that Garuda Indonesia came up with to celebrate Katrini Day — an Indonesian holiday on 21st April that celebrates the birth of pioneer and national heroine, Raden Ajeng Katrini.
The flight was captained by Garuda Indonesia's first-ever female pilot, Ida Fiqriah, who is one of twenty-nine female pilots currently employed by the airline. In total, the company has over 4,500 female employees across all areas, however, this was the first time in the carrier's history that a service was run by an all-female team. Domestic Marketing Director, Nina Sulistyowatti indicated that this will be a regular event going forward, running every year on Katrini Day.
20th March 2018
Garuda Indonesia will commence operations for a Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia-Mumbai, India passenger service from April 24. The frequency will initially be twice-weekly (Monday and Thursday) before being increased to thrice-weekly in May. Flight GA814 will leave Denpasar at 15.40, arriving in Mumbai at 20.25. On the return GA 815 will leave Mumbai at 21.50 to arrive in Denpasar at 07.55 the next morning. The route will be served using Airbus 330-200. There will be 36 business class seats and 186 economy seats available for purchase. This will take Garuda Indonesia's services to six flights to Mumbai, from Jakarta and Bali.
20th March 2018
As the Haj season fast approaches, Garuda Indonesia, the flag carrier of the country which has the largest Muslim population in the world, is all set to provide the best in-flight and highly efficient ground services to some 170,00 Indonesian pilgrims who will perform Haj this year. In an interview with the Saudi Gazette, Denni Karnabi Ibrahim, said during his first day in office as the newly appointed Garuda Indonesia General Manager in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Middle East and Africa region, that he is planning to extend Garuda network from Saudi Arabia to beyond Jakarta covering Garuda Int’l network. Garuda is currently flying direct to Jakarta, Medan, Ujung Pandang, Balikpapan, Surabaya and Solo City from Jeddah and Madinah.
Garuda Indonesia will be targeting outbound tourism from Saudi Arabia to Indonesia as Garuda is directly flying to multiple destinations in Indonesia as part of its MEA expansion plan. Garuda will explore possibilities to operate direct flight from Riyadh to Jakarta, the new general manager added. Garuda aims to provide its passengers with the best in-flight experience with Indonesian hospitality with the youngest fleet in the sky. Saudi Arabia and GCC are core of the airline's future plan to further expand its network globally, he remarked. And like the proverbial saying "the proof of the pudding is in the eating", Garuda Indonesia showed that it has passed a series of litmus tests that comfortably earned the national carrier of Indonesia a rightful place in the sun, so to speak. Indonesia's largest airline accounted for 44 percent of domestic flights, up from 39 percent a year ago. Its international flights also captured 28 percent of the market, increasing from 21 percent a year earlier.
19th February 2018
National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has announced a new collaboration with e-commerce to launch a new service channel named "GarudaShop" that will be available on the platform's website. Following a signing ceremony on Tuesday at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's Terminal 3, all Garuda passengers will be able to purchase the airline's merchandise and products through the GarudaShop in addition to during flights.
Garuda Indonesia president director Pahala N. Mansury said the cooperation was part of the carrier's efforts to expand its non-core flight business by increasing ancillary revenue, with a target of up to US$54 million this year. "It will also ease customers in purchasing Garuda's merchandise and products online. Holders of Garuda Indonesia-BNI and Garuda Indonesia-Citi Card credit cards will also be given a special program when they conduct transactions in the shop," he added in a statement. Among the products are travel-related items, watches, jewelry, perfumes, beauty products, gadgets, as well as merchandise for children. (kes)