Garuda Indonesia Wins Best International Airline

National flagship carrier Garuda Indonesia Airlines won the Best International Airline award for January 2012 from Roy Morgan Research, beating Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand.

According to Roy Morgan, Garuda received a 91 percent satisfaction rate from 3,943 respondents surveyed in January. Singapore Airlines came in second place, while 2011’s Best Airline of the Year, Air New Zealand, came in third.

“This award shows that our transformation plan, the Quantum Leap, has been recognized by our customers,” Pudjobroto, Garuda’s corporate secretary, told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.

Pudjobroto said that the Quantum Leap is the company’s plan to improve its operations and the quality of its services. The plan includes the expansion and rejuvenation of its fleet from 89 airplanes this year to 154 airplanes by 2015. Garuda also wants to reduce the average age of airplanes from 6.5 years to 5.8 years.

Pudjobroto also attributed the award to Garuda’s on board service, dubbed ‘The Garuda Indonesia Experience,’ which was designed to introduce the airline’s passengers to Indonesian hospitality and cuisine.

The airline’s president director, Emirsyah Satar, said in November that this year Garuda would install Wi-Fi in its eight new airplanes, enabling its passengers to surf the web. 

Garuda is eyeing to fly more than 20 million passengers this year, up from 17 million passengers last year.

The award is the latest accolade for Garuda. The airline won a four-star rating from research company Skytrax in 2010. The same year it resumed flights to Amsterdam after halting the route in 2004. Skytrax also named Garuda as the world’s most improved airline at the 2010 World Airline Awards in Hamburg, Germany.

Garuda also won Asia’s leading service quality airline by the Center for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA) in 2010.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/corporatenews/garuda-indonesia-wins-best-international-airline/502900