SIA and Garuda Indonesia combine marketing prowess

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Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Garuda Indonesia are building on their long-standing partnership with a new wide-ranging commercial tie-up that will offer travellers with more alternatives and a better travel experience. The scope of the agreement includes the potential alignment of frequent flyer programmes, joint marketing activities, as well as initiatives to promote inbound tourism into Indonesia. Both parties will also commit to finding new growth opportunities in the air freight segment, as well as cooperation in maintenance, repair, and overhaul activities.

The Memorandum of Understanding coincides with the quarantine-free Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between both countries which officially launched today. SIA's CEO, Goh Choon Phong, said its long-standing relationship with Garuda Indonesia reflects the bilateral ties between Singapore and Indonesia, as well as the close connections between the people of the two countries.

"This agreement allows us to leverage on the strengths of both partners to provide our customers with a greater array of choices, as well as an enhanced and more seamless travel journey. It would also enable us to work closely together to support initiatives that facilitate and grow tourism and economic activity as borders reopen," he added.

On 1 October, SIA and Garuda Indonesia reactivated their air connectivity partnership arrangement, which allowed the latter to commence flight network connectivity on SIA's services to London on the same day, and will allow it to codeshare on SIA’s flights to Mumbai from 1 January 2022. Additionally, connectivity partnerships to points in both airlines’ networks will be explored to support increased air connectivity to Indonesia and Singapore, as well as the Southeast Asia region. Separately, SIA also reactivated its codeshare agreement with Malaysia Airlines between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur on 18 November. The agreement was also expanded to include 15 domestic points in Malaysia, seven destinations in Europe, and two cities in South Africa.

Garuda Indonesia's president and CEO, Irfan Setiaputra, said the arrangement is a great opportunity to its business momentum, as the airline becomes the first Indonesian airline that leverages vaccination-based travel programmes to and from Indonesia through its collaboration with SIA.

"Both airlines carry the same mission in this cooperation, which is to support the strengthening of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore. I hope that the commercial cooperation between the two airlines will create a more comfortable and safer travel experience for passengers amid the increasing air traffic between countries,” he added.

Separately, Indonesia has implemented several initiatives in attempt to keep its tourism industry afloat since the pandemic. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (MOTCE) of Indonesia partnered AXN Asia to launch an original TV and digital series, AXN Ultimate Challenge Indonesia. MOTCE minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said that the ministry hopes to introduce Indonesia's destinations - Labuan Bajo, Mandalika and Bali in particular - and get viewers interested to visit the country. The series consists of six 15-minute episodes that highlight Indonesia's diverse cultures, gastronomic delights, and wonders of nature; as well as activities visitors can take part in such as surfing, snorkelling, flyboarding and paragliding.

Indonesian beer brand Bintang and HYPEBEAST also recently launched an exclusive capsule collection. Titled #BersamaBali - which means "Stand with Bali" - the collection implores Bali enthusiasts to show their support for the Balinese community as it struggled amidst the pandemic. The collection spotlights eight local Indonesian brands, designers and collectives, especially those based in Bali or with a shared concern for Bali. The collection comprises t-shirts and sleeveless tops adorned with unique designs, featuring bold colors and stylish illustrations.

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