Emirates airline and Indonesia's Garuda sign codeshare pact

Airlines to explore opportunities to co-operate on their frequent flyer programmes

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, chairman and chief executive of Emirates, and Kartika Wirjoatmodjo, Deputy Minister in Indonesia's Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, watch as executives from Emirates and GaShow more

Emirates and Indonesia's national airline Garuda signed a codeshare agreement that covers 18 destinations.

The development comes after the two countries signed on a number of deals to cement economic and trade relations.

The codeshare agreement is expected to come into effect from January 2022, subject to regulatory approvals, the Dubai airline said on Monday.

"Indonesia is an important market for Emirates and our partnership with Garuda Indonesia is testament to Emirates’ commitment to continuously strengthen our network and complement our offering," said Adnan Kazim, chief commercial officer of Emirates.

"Through the expanded, combined network of both airlines, we are able to offer our customers a more seamless experience through check-in, bag check and boarding on every leg of their journey, all with a single ticket."

The UAE and Indonesia signed agreements worth billions of dollars this week and agreed to triple bilateral trade by 2025.

The agreements were made during the visit of Indonesian President Joko Widodo to the UAE last week.

Government and private sector entities signed deals in various sectors, including energy, aviation, financial services, artificial intelligence, agriculture and defence.

The codeshare flights will allow passengers to connect on 18 routes between Indonesia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Of these, seven new domestic destinations in Indonesia will be accessible to customers on Emirates tickets.

Tickets will be available for travel starting from January 2 next year, Emirates said.

Under the agreement, Emirates airline passengers can connect to and from Denpasar, Surabaya, Makassar, Balikpapan, Manado, Medan, Padang and Solo airports on flights operated by Garuda from Jakarta to Dubai and beyond with a single ticket.

Additionally, routes directly connecting Denpasar with Surabaya and Makassar will be available to passengers.

The partnership with Emirates "gives their inbound passengers seamless access to top travel destinations in Indonesia connected by Garuda’s domestic network", said Garuda's president and chief executive Irfan Setiaputra.

"Outbound Garuda passengers will also benefit from this partnership as it gives them access to a wider range of destinations served by Emirates."

The partnership is "timely" as countries are expected to start reopening their borders for international flights and ease their travel restrictions, he said.

"It will also help open up many opportunities for Indonesia’s trade and tourism activities,” he said.

Garuda will add its code to flights on eight routes operated by Emirates, including between Dubai and Jakarta, Denpasar, Bahrain, Moscow, Johannesburg, Cairo, London Heathrow and Manchester.

In addition to the codeshare agreement, Emirates and Garuda will also explore opportunities to co-operate on their respective frequent flyer programmes, which will allow passengers of both airlines to earn and redeem loyalty points for reward tickets, upgrades and other benefits.

Emirates currently has codeshare agreements with 21 airlines and two rail companies around the world.