Garuda Indonesia to join Skyteam

[WorldTraveler]

Garuda Indonesia Joins SkyTeam
Alliance expands its reach in Southeast Asia and Australia

.
Press Release Source: SkyTeam On Tuesday November 23, 2010, 6:00 am EST
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Nov. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Garuda Indonesia, the flag carrier of Indonesia, today signed an agreement to join the SkyTeam airline alliance in 2012. Garuda will expand SkyTeam's presence in Southeast Asia, adding 30 new destinations to the alliance network.

Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and a fast growing emerging market. SkyTeam is actively working to grow its presence in the region and Garuda is a welcome addition to the alliance. Garuda has a broad Indonesian and regional network and is able to offer additional coverage and improved connections to the Asia Pacific. Some of the 30 new destinations in the SkyTeam network are Surabaya in East Java, Medan in North Sumatra and Perth in Australia.

"Joining SkyTeam is a long-term development strategy for Garuda Indonesia, and for years we have been upgrading our service and actively forging cooperation with SkyTeam member airlines with this objective in mind," said Emirsyah Satar, President and CEO of Garuda. "As the first Indonesian airline to join this world-class alliance, our strategic target is to continuously strengthen profitability and boost international market competitiveness."

"The most fitting word to characterize 2010 for SkyTeam is growth. Welcoming a member that covers a considerable part of Southeast Asia definitely illustrates our expansion," said SkyTeam Chairman Leo van Wijk. "Indonesia has great cultural and historical wealth, is rich in a range of natural resources and has seen impressive economic developments. Garuda's financial and operational restructuring has proven very successful and I am convinced that this will help position the airline as a major player in the region."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Garuda-Indonesia-Joins-prnews-996723776.html?x=0&.v=1

Not entirely unexpected given Indonesia's historic relationship with the Netherlands and KLM but Skyteam is not very well positioned in Asia with multiple carriers in northern Asia, China, Taiwan, and southeast Asia. Another example of how DL has taken the assets and relationships gained in the NW merger and ehnanced and built on them. Given that almost all of DL's growth in Asia for next year is in alliance partner markets, the chances are high that DL will continue to cement its relationships in Asia with more growth in their markets in 2012.

 

[simkeith]

Skyteam is quickly becoming a joke. Take a look at all the airlines of dubious distinction who are members? Really, who wants to fly on Aeroflot? Garuda is on one of my company's "do not fly" list. Korean Air has a horrible safety record. Kenya Airways? Really?

 

[WorldTraveler]

Not sure how you come to the assessment of Skyteam being a joke.
Based on current schedules and airlines that are either in or have committed to join any alliance, Skyteam is very close to overtaking Star as the largest transpacific alliance.
Skyteam has or will have the largest presence across the Pacific from each of the following countries.
Japan (Delta)
S. Korea (Korean)
Taiwan (China)
China (China Southern, China Eastern)
Vietnam (Vietnam)
and of course,
Indonesia (Garuda)which as a country has a long standing relationship with The Netherlands (KLM)
And I might have missed one or two….

Korean also runs a very high quality operation now and is well regarded in the industry. Their safety turnaround is well documented.

Perhaps you would like to share your preferred alliance so we can filter your bias and responses accordingly.