KLM, Garuda to resume deal

Novan Iman Santosa

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is ready to resume its interline agreement with Garuda Indonesia, after the Indonesian flag carrier was allowed back into European airspace.

The Air France KLM country manager for Indonesia, Axel Colen, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday the interline agreement with Garuda had been in place long before the latter was banned from European airspace after a slew of air accidents in Indonesia.

"Now that the ban has been lifted, we are ready to resume the agreement," he said.

"We still have to wait two to three weeks before we can fully implement it again, because we have to wait for some technical problems to be resolved."

Colen added both airlines were working to enable their ticketing systems "to talk to each other in issuing the e-tickets".

An interline agreement allows two airlines to have two different flights on one ticket, thus reducing the hassle for travelers.

"For example, a passenger can fly from Surabaya to Jakarta with Garuda, and then continue to fly to Amsterdam with KLM," Colen said.

"Each airline will still have its own code in each sector it serves."

Colen said it would different from the codeshare agreement, in which all codes belong to an airline, even if the passenger flies with partner airlines.

When asked when would KLM would ink a codeshare agreement with Garuda, Colen said it would be the second stage after the interline agreement.

"But KLM passengers will be able to enjoy Garuda's vast network already, even before the codeshare agreement is made," he said.

Colen was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference to commemorate the 85th anniversary of KLM's first intercontinental flight, from Amsterdam to Jakarta, at the time the world's longest scheduled route.

Also attending the conference were Marnix Fruitema, the Air France KLM senior vice president for Asia Pacific, and Paul Rombeek, the Air France KLM general manager for Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.

That first flight on Oct. 1, 1924, only five years after KLM had been established, was made by a Fokker F-VII from Schiphol Airport.

The airplane was registered H-NACC and named Pelikaan.

In September 1929, the flight was made into a regular fortnightly service when the travel time was shortened to 12 days.

The service was then improved over time to a weekly and then twice-weekly flight.

KLM currently flies to route with a fleet of Boeing 737-200s and 777-300ERs in a time of 12 hours, with a short stop in Kuala Lumpur.

Fruitema said the Indonesian market had huge potential, adding Air France KLM would continue to invest and explore opportunities here, as well as improve its services.

"Expansion plans are always in our strategic outlook," he said at the press conference.

First published on The Jakarta Post on Friday, Oct. 2, 2009