Garuda Indonesia (GA) and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have agreed to enhance their commercial partnership, aiming to offer reciprocal benefits for their frequent flyer program members and to explore revenue sharing arrangements for flights between Indonesia and Singapore, pending regulatory approvals. The frequent flyer program agreement was signed in Jakarta by Garuda Indonesia CEO Mr. Irfan Setiaputra and SIA CEO Mr. Goh Choon Phong. Additionally, the joint venture revenue sharing agreement was signed by Garuda Indonesia Director of Service and Commercial Mr. Ade R. Susardi and SIA Chief Commercial Officer Mr. Lee Lik Hsin.
Once launched, the frequent flyer partnership will enable GarudaMiles and KrisFlyer members to earn and redeem miles on codeshare flights operated by both airlines. The revenue sharing agreement, once implemented, will support joint capacity growth and represents a significant step towards a proposed commercial joint venture covering Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines flights between Singapore and Indonesia. Both airlines are continuing joint marketing activities to promote tourism, which may include initiatives to boost tourist traffic to Indonesia, such as familiarization trips for travel trade and media.
Singapore Airlines and Garuda Indonesia have a robust codeshare partnership that has recently expanded. Garuda Indonesia codeshares on Singapore Airlines flights between Singapore and the Indonesian cities of Bali, Jakarta, Medan, and Surabaya, as well as on long-haul routes between Singapore and Johannesburg, London (Heathrow), and Mumbai. Meanwhile, SIA codeshares on Garuda Indonesia flights between Singapore and Bali, Jakarta, and Surabaya.
Mr. Irfan Setiaputra, President and CEO of Garuda Indonesia, said, “Having the same mission in optimizing the potential of the aviation business ecosystem in South East Asia after the pandemic, this initiative is certainly an important manifestation of both airlines’ commitment to continue strengthening our well-established cooperation”.
“We hope that the expansion of this partnership will bring added value for Singapore and Indonesia, which are served by both airlines. Furthermore, 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”, Mr Irfan said.
Mr Goh Choon Phong, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Airlines, said, “Our win-win partnership with Garuda Indonesia will improve the connectivity between Indonesia and Singapore for our customers. This will help to meet the increasing demand for air travel between the two countries and beyond, as well as facilitate the growth of tourism and economic activities. Furthermore, by deepening the synergies between our frequent flyer programmes, we can enhance the benefits for our loyal customers, offering them more opportunities to earn and redeem miles when travelling with both airlines".