Starting today (1/10/19), Garuda Indonesia will operate a new flight service connecting Amsterdam with Medan and Bali. Bypassing Jakarta, the new route forms part of the national flag carrier’s mission to meet European demand for two attractive new areas in the archipelago. The new flights will be available six times a week, departing every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The new outbound flight from Amsterdam – named GA 089 – will depart at 12:05 p.m. local time, landing in Medan at 6:25 a.m., and then continue to Bali at 7:05 a.m., landing at Ngurah Rai International Airport at 11:05 a.m.
The Bali-Medan-Amsterdam return flight – named GA 088 – will depart from Ngurah Rai International Airport at 8:25 p.m. local time and arrive at Medan’s Kualanamu Airport at 11:15 p.m. local time. It will then continue on to Amsterdam at 11:55 p.m. and arrive at Schipol International Airport at 7:50 a.m. local time.
The route will be serviced by Airbus A330-200 aircraft, which can accommodate 36 business and 186 economy class passengers.
Although many travellers will be pleased to hear the news, it is also expected to cause some disruption to existing itineraries in the short term, as it replaces the existing Jakarta – Amsterdam direct service; certain pre-ordered tickets will be affected by this transition, as explained by Pikri Ilham Kurniansyah, who is the commercial director of Garuda Indonesia:
“For passengers who previously hold Jakarta-Amsterdam tickets, we will fly them to Kualanamu [International Airport in North Sumatra] from Jakarta and then continue the journey to Amsterdam and vice versa,†said Pikri in a statement published by The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Those affected by the changes are advised to contact Garuda Indonesia’s call centre at 0804 180 7807. They can also refer to the airline’s Twitter account @garudacares and Facebook regarding adjustments to their bookings.
