Garuda Indonesia joins Skyteam in March 2014

Garuda Indonesia, the airline of Indonesia, has announced that it will join SkyTeam airline alliance in March 2014 as its 20th international member, and second Southeast Asia member.

"Joining SkyTeam is a long-term development strategy for Garuda Indonesia, and for years we have been upgrading our service and actively forging cooperation with SkyTeam member airlines with this objective in mind," said Emirsyah Satar, President and CEO of Garuda Indonesia.

As the first Indonesian airline to join this world-class alliance, our strategic target is to continuously strengthen profitability and boost international market competitiveness".

Commenting on the announcement, Bagus Y. Siregar, Vice President for Garuda Indonesia Australia and SWP said: "We believe both Garuda Indonesia and SkyTeam will benefit from this alliance greatly; with Jakarta serving as an alternative gateway to and from Asia and other SkyTeam airlines providing considerable benefits to our passengers. We look forward to continuing our growth under the SkyTeam banner."

"Garuda Indonesia's domestic and growing international network will give SkyTeam a footprint in Indonesia, as we strengthen our presence in the Southeast Asia region," said SkyTeam Managing Director Michael Wisbrun. "Garuda has worked hard to meet the membership criteria required by SkyTeam, including implementing a new IT platform, and we look forward to welcoming the airline in March next year."

Garuda Indonesia already cooperates extensively with SkyTeam airlines, including Etihad, with whom it signed a codeshare agreement in 2012, as well as Korean Air, Vietnam Airlines, China Southern and China Airlines.