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GARUDA Indonesia is developing cargo flight services to Vietnam using jumbo or wide body aircraft of the Airbus A330-300 type.
“In the early stages, the cargo flight service to Saigon, Vietnam was served via charter flights,” said Garuda Indonesia President Director Irfan Setiaputra in a press release, quoted Saturday (12/18).
He explained that the plane will depart from Makassar to Singapore at 15.15 local time (LT), then continue with a flight to Saigon, Vietnam which departs from Singapore at 19.55 LT and arrives in Saigon at 21.20 LT.
Irfan said the route was officially served on December 15, 2021 with the Airbus A330-300 fleet once a week. The expansion of the cargo flight network to Vietnam, he continued, is Garuda Indonesia’s continuous step in maximizing the potential for direct calls between the two countries for various national superior export commodities, such as manufactured products, garments, spare parts, to maritime commodities.
According to him, the expansion of cargo flight service connectivity to Saigon is in line with the potential for trade between Indonesia and Vietnam which shows promising potential. Meanwhile, the value of trade between the two countries has increased periodically to more than 66% over the last three years.
He added that the expansion of this special cargo route connectivity is one of the business opportunities that will continue to be optimized on an ongoing basis. This is in line with the trend of cargo transportation needs which are projected to continue to grow in the future.
“Garuda Indonesia until the third quarter of 2021 managed to record an increase in international cargo traffic by 90% compared to the same period in the previous year,” he added.
Furthermore, Irfan explained that optimizing international cargo shipping services has an important meaning. Not only for efforts to restore Garuda Indonesia’s performance, but also for the company’s role as a national flag carrier in supporting national export activities.
Previously, Garuda Indonesia had supported a number of direct call activities for sending export commodities, including the delivery of local industrial products in the form of shoes from Jakarta to Milan, Italy; shipping marine products from Jakarta to Taipei, Taiwan; to the initial export of white pepper from Pangkal Pinang to Canada and Amsterdam. [antaranews/photo special]
