Garuda Indonesia Aircraft Fleet Wearing Masks, What For?

VVsual mask on the front (nose) of the Airbus A330-900 Neo Garuda Indonesia aircraft. (Photo: Garuda Indonesia)

JAKARTA - The state-owned airline, PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, today, Thursday, October 1, officially launched a special livery that displays a visual mask on the front (nose) of the Airbus A330-900 Neo aircraft. It is the first aircraft mask livery in Indonesia.

The launch of this aircraft mask livery is part of Garuda Indonesia's support for the government's education program through the "Let's Wear Masks" movement.

The President Director of Garuda Indonesia, Irfaniaputra said that his party is always committed to continuing to support various efforts carried out by the government in preventing the spread of COVID-19, one of which is carried out through the "Come on Wear Masks" campaign.

"It is a matter of pride for us to be the first national airline in Indonesia to display a special livery for aircraft with masks. Hopefully with the efforts we are doing, it can help increase public awareness of the application of health protocols in everyday life, especially through the use of masks," said Irfan in his official statement, Thursday, October 1.

Irfan explained, the total number of aircraft that will use the masked livery is 5 fleets that will serve domestic flight routes as well as international flight routes, including Singapore and Japan flight destinations.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPCPEN) Erick Thohir expressed his appreciation for the initiative carried out by Garuda Indonesia.

"Garuda's way of socializing the use of masks is quite unique. The plan is that apart from domestic, there will also be routes abroad. This is very good, so that the world community also knows that Indonesia puts health care first," said Erick.

In addition to the use of masks, Garuda Indonesia claims to consistently ensure that health protocols run optimally in all flight operational lines. This includes procedures for controlling the distance between passengers (physical distancing), the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the crew on duty, providing food in single use containers (mono use) and serving without close contact.

In addition, aircraft cabin disinfection activities are carried out routinely and through education to passengers related to the air filtration system on planes that can filter dust, particles and viruses up to 99.97 percent.

Furthermore, in order to optimize the mask use campaign, Garuda Indonesia organized an aircraft mask livery design competition entitled "Fly Your Design Through The Sky" which was held throughout October 2020.

Through this competition, Garuda Indonesia also provides an opportunity for the public to display the creativity and design of aircraft mask livery through social media platforms where the best livery mask designs will be chosen to be used by Garuda Indonesia on other aircraft.