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NATIONAL airline Garuda Indonesia has again added direct flights to Jeddah to strengthen its share of the Umrah market. As of August 12, 2023, Garuda Indonesia officially serves direct flights to the Holy Land from Yogyakarta. The direct flight service is carried out via the Yogyakarta-Jeddah (round-trip) route, which is served by the A330-300 fleet.
According to the main director of Garuda Indonesia, Irfan Setiaputra, with the operation of this flight route, currently Garuda Indonesia is the only airline serving direct flights from Yogyakarta and Central Java to the Holy Land. On this first flight, Garuda Indonesia transported at least 215 prospective pilgrims.
“Operating the Yogyakarta-Jeddah (round-trip) flight route is one of the company’s steps to continue to answer the needs of the public to be able to travel to the Holy Land safely and comfortably without going through transit to other cities or countries, which we hope will be an added value in itself. for the congregation, especially those who are elderly,” said Irfan in an official statement, Sunday, August 13, 2023.
Irfan continued, opening a direct flight route to the Holy Land from Yogyakarta is one of the network development strategies implemented by the company, especially in optimizing the Umrah market share.
Garuda Indonesia from August to September has gradually opened direct Umrah flight routes from five major cities, namely Banda Aceh, Yogyakarta, Makassar, Surabaya and Kertajati, which is also supported by increasing the frequency of flights from Jakarta to Jeddah and Medina.
The Yogyakarta-Jeddah direct flight will be served once per week, namely on Saturday, departing from Yogyakarta International Airport with GA-942 at 11.05 WIB and is scheduled to arrive at King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah at 17.25 LT.
While the return flight to Yogyakarta will be served by GA-943 which departs from King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah at 19.25 LT and is scheduled to land again at Yogyakarta International Airport at 10.25 WIB the next day.
“The presence of the first flight at YIA Airport which directly connects people who want to travel to the Holy Land from Yogyakarta, we hope not only to bridge the community’s need for safe and comfortable flight services to the Holy Land with efficient travel time, but also hopefully in the future can support the strengthening of the umrah industrial ecosystem, so that it can improve the economy of Yogyakarta and the surrounding area,” Irfan concluded. [sources/photo special]
