TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is set to open up several new international routes this year. Garuda Indonesia president director Ari Askhara said the route to Istanbul, Turkey, would be operational by June 2019.

“We want to take our umrah [Islamic minor pilgrimage] to Istanbul before Jeddah. Istanbul boasts a characteristic that is almost similar to ours, Muslim majority, so there will be visits to mosques,” he said after a BUMN (state-owned enterprises) meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, February 28, 2019.

Ari added Garuda Indonesia will also launch an international route to Los Angeles, U.S., with a transit to South Korea, which was expected to operate in September 2019.

Read: Garuda Indonesia Asked to Open More Routes at Wiriadinata Airport

Ari went on to say that Garuda Indonesia also planned on opening a route to Moscow, Russia, and that talks with investors relative to the route were still afoot.

Garuda Indonesia commerce director Fikri Ilham Kurniansyah, meanwhile, said the company would also maximize its flight to London by opening a new route from London to Bali. This aims at stepping up the number of Garuda passengers for its European routes.

“Because most of the people from London want to go on vacation to Bali, so we’ll make a trianglular route: Jakarta, London, Bali,” he said in Jakarta on Thursday.

BISNIS.COM