On popular flight routes such as from Doha to Jakarta, Qatar Airways doesn’t have the equipment to expand and has been looking at potential codeshare partners to cover a leg of a connecting itinerary through codeshare.
It happened with American Airlines from Doha to New York, and now with alliance partner Garuda Indonesia, another 5-star airline.
American Airlines however stopped flying to Doha and is only selling the route as a codeshare with Qatar Airways aircraft now. eTurboNews was told AA lost money on the route, while Qatar Airways gained revenue and was able to feed more passengers through its busy and sophisticated hub in Doha.
On the other hand, this is excellent news for the inbound tourism and corporate travel market in Indonesia. Indonesia has been trying hard to get its arrival number back, and Jakarta has been positioned as a gateway to numerous developing tourism and business markets for Indonesia.
New ambition for Indonesia to expand health and medical tourism will gain more access as well.
Garuda Indonesia has a limited network in the world. Such an arrangement to feed into a huge network Qatar Airways brings to the table could open Indonesia even wider to get visitors from Europe, India, Russia, and North and South America using Doha as a connecting hub.
It may also help Doha to get more visitors into its Five Star Hotels, museums, shopping centers, restaurants and of course to enjoy the many trendy coffee and shisha places, such as Toby’s Estate across from the Park Hyatt Hotel in Doha.
Qatar Airways’ codeshare partner, Garuda Indonesia is now giving it a try, and announced the commencement of its daily direct flight between Jakarta (CGK) and Doha (DOH) effective from 4 April 2024, with ticket sales starting on 6 February 2024.
The new daily direct flight will be operated with state-of-the-art Boeing B777-300 aircraft in a dual-class configuration, featuring 26 high-end seats in Business Class and 367 seats in Economy Class.
The launch of services from Jakarta to Doha symbolizes the strong bilateral ties between Indonesia and Qatar, aimed at deepening economic cooperation between the two nations.
It also stimulates benefits in the aviation and tourism sectors, including enhanced trade flows and commercial links. The daily flight to Doha will help cater to the increasing demand for direct flights between Jakarta and Doha and provide wider preferences for travelers.
The new route allows customers of the flag carrier of Indonesia to enjoy access beyond Doha to Qatar Airways’ network of over 170 destinations, including cities in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. This will also provide Qatar Airways’ passengers with even more travel options for seamless connectivity to exotic destinations in Indonesia.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, said: “Qatar Airways welcomes Garuda’s launch of its daily flight from Jakarta to Doha. Indonesia is a country that has great potential and is one of our most important markets within the Qatar Airways global network. With this new partnership, Qatar Airways and Garuda Indonesia provide an unparalleled level of service in response to increasing travel demand, which will further boost tourism between the two countries.”
President and CEO of Garuda Indonesia, Irfan Setiaputra, stated: “We are very pleased to be able to add Doha to our extensive global network.
There are strong business, tourism, and cultural ties between Indonesia and Qatar, and we believe this new service will further boost those activities between the two countries while offering easier access for travelers from Qatar to Indonesia, which is now one of the fastest-growing economic centers in the world.
This new route marks a significant milestone for Garuda Indonesia as the national flag carrier of Indonesia, providing our passengers departing from Jakarta as the main hub of Indonesia with a convenient gateway to the largest city and financial hub in the Gulf area. This direct flight between Jakarta and Doha is also expected to attract Qatar tourists to explore other leading tourist destinations from Jakarta as the main gate to Indonesia’s exotic destinations.”
Currently, Qatar Airways offers three daily flights to both Jakarta and Bali and has recently launched three weekly flights to Medan. With the new Garuda flight and codeshare partnership, passengers will benefit from seamless connections between the combined networks.
Garuda Indonesia – Flight schedule to Doha:
· Jakarta (CGK) to Doha (DOH) – Flight No. GA900: Departure 18:20; Arrival 23:00
· Doha (DOH) to Jakarta (CGK) – Flight No. GA901: Departure 02:25; Arrival 14:55
