Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines increase their partnership.
22 May 2024 CW Team
In order to benefit both Garuda Indonesia (GA) and Singapore Airlines (SIA) frequent flyer programme participants, the two airlines have decided to expand their business relationship. Pending regulatory permissions, they also intend to look at revenue-sharing arrangements for flights between Indonesia and Singapore.
In Jakarta, Goh Choon Phong, CEO of SIA, and Irfan Setiaputra, CEO of Garuda Indonesia, inked the agreement for the frequent flyer programme. Ade R. Susardi, Director of Service and Commercial, Garuda Indonesia, and Lee Lik Hsin, Chief Commercial Officer, SIA, also signed the joint venture revenue share agreement.
Once the frequent flyer alliance is in place, members of KrisFlyer and GarudaMiles will be able to accrue and use miles on code-share flights that are operated by both airlines. The income sharing agreement will enable cooperative capacity expansion once it is put into effect. This is a major step forward for the planned commercial joint venture agreement, which involves Singapore Airlines and Garuda Indonesia flights between Singapore and Indonesia. To increase travel, the two airlines are collaborating on marketing initiatives. Promoting traveller visits to Indonesia could entail planning familiarisation excursions for the media and tourism industry, among other things.
Setiaputra, President of Garuda Indonesia, commented on the development, mentioning that this collaboration is a key aspect of the company's strategy to enhance its performance by forming a strategic commercial partnership with a focus on delivering additional value to customers. He explained that, having the same mission of optimising the potential of the aviation business ecosystem in Southeast Asia after the pandemic, this initiative is certainly an important manifestation of both airlines' commitment to continue strengthening their well-established cooperation.
He further added that this partnership is a special moment for them, which also marks 58 years of Garuda Indonesia's journey in connecting Indonesia and Singapore. He stated that in the future, they hope this partnership will continue to enhance social, cultural, and tourism relations between Indonesia and Singapore, as it will offer seamless access for customers to enjoy various destinations served by both airlines. Furthermore, he explained that this collaboration is also expected to not only provide added value for both airlines' customers, especially through the ease of earning and redeeming miles for tickets and other exclusive benefits, but the hope is that it will strengthen Garuda Indonesia's support for national tourism by providing more access to points in Indonesia for foreign tourists who will visit Indonesia via Singapore in the future.
The CEO of Singapore Airlines said their win-win partnership with Garuda Indonesia will improve the connectivity between Indonesia and Singapore for their customers. The CEO stated that this collaboration will address the rising need for air travel between Indonesia and Singapore and also support the growth of tourism and economic activities. Additionally, the CEO explained that by deepening the synergies between their frequent flyer programmes, they can enhance the benefits for their loyal customers, offering them more opportunities to earn and redeem miles when travelling with both airlines.