Indonesia’s national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has been awarded the ultimate "5-Star Airline" rating from Skytrax for a second year running.
The President & CEO of Garuda Indonesia, M. Arif Wibowo received the award from Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax, at the Changi Exhibition Center during Singapore Airshow 2016.
Indonesian Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno expressed her highest regards "for all Garuda management and staff, their hard work, and their success in maintaining the quality and standards that exemplify a "5-Star Airline"."
"We believe that recognition of Garuda Indonesia as a "5-Star Airline" for consecutive years will not only help to strengthen Garuda Indonesia as a global brand, but also support our efforts at "Nation Branding", as laid out in the Indonesian government's strategic program," Rini added.
The Minister finished by suggesting that the global achievement would be followed by better financial results, and extended her appreciation for Garuda Indonesia's turnaround financial results which ended in net profit for 2015.
Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted said that the "5-Star Airline" rating awarded to Garuda Indonesia for two years consecutively was a result keeping consistently high service standards.
Spurred on by a strong commitment from the airline's management and staff to deliver best service, Garuda Indonesia's performance continues to earn global recognition. In 2013, Skytrax awarded Garuda Indonesia for "The World's Best Economy Class". This continued in 2014, with recognition as "The World's Best Cabin Staff", a "5-Star Airline", and 7th rank in "The World's Top 10 Airlines".
At the World Airline Awards, Paris Airshow 2015, Garuda Indonesia was once again named "The World's Best Cabin Staff", based on a global customer satisfaction survey conducted by Skytrax of more than 18 million passengers. The survey, which covers 245 international airlines, is held every year and measures standards across 41 key performance indicators of airline products and services.
As part of a fleet revitalization program throughout 2016, the Garuda Indonesia Group will receive 16 new aircraft in total; 1 Boeing 777-300ER, 4 Airbus A330-300, 4 ATR72-600, and also 8 Airbus A320 to be operated by Citilink. By the end of 2016, Garuda Indonesia Group will operate a total of 188 aircraft; 144 aircraft for Garuda Indonesia and 44 aircraft for Citilink.
To continue the positive growth achieved during its "Quick Wins" program in 2015, Garuda Indonesia will enter a "Sky Beyond" program for 2016 aiming at rapid company expansion, focusing on three 'core strategies' - company group synergy, effectiveness and efficiency, and service enhancement - to accelerate company achievement and performance.
At Singapore Airshow 2016, the Garuda Indonesia Group, through Garuda Maintenance Facility AeroAsia, looks to several short- and long-term business contracts, with a value of nearly USD 100 milion.
