Garuda Indonesia, the airline of Indonesia, today introduced the Airbus A330 aircraft on the popular Perth to Denpasar route, becoming the sole airline to operate a wide-bodied aircraft on this sector.
The A330 takes over from the Boeing 737-800 aircraft which has been servicing the route until now. The A330 includes 165 degree lie-flat seats in Business Class, a spacious seating configuration in Economy and LCD inflight entertainment to provide customers with an enhanced flying experience. The move will provide increased capacity, as the Airbus can carry up to 257 passengers vs Boeing 737’s capacity of 162 passengers.
Commenting on the transition, Pak Uun Setiawan, Vice President for Garuda Indonesia Australia and SWP, said: “The move to the Airbus A330 is another milestone for Garuda Indonesia as we continue to expand and enhance our fleet across the region in line with our ongoing ‘Quantum Leap’ strategy. Introducing this spacious fleet will allow us to better serve both the growing corporate and leisure markets out of Western Australia and provide our passengers a new level of comfort in the air.”
Passengers will also benefit from new schedules with daily flights departing Perth slightly later at 7.45am and arriving in Denpasar at 11.35am. The return service will depart Denpasar at 7pm and arrive in Perth at the earlier time of 10.45pm local time.
As Garuda Indonesia continues to gain altitude in the Australian market, the airline has been met with numerous international awards, most recently being named by SkyTrax as “World’s Best Cabin Crew” and “World’s Seventh Best Airline.” Garuda Indonesia has also won awards across all cabins, including SkyTrax “World’s Best Economy Class” accolade and “Best in Region: Asia and Australasia” by the Airline Passenger Experience Association.