President Director Of Garuda Indonesia: After Vaccines, People Should Have More Confidence To Fly

President Director of Garuda Indonesia, Irfan Everyutra. (Photo: Instagram @setiaputrairfan)

JAKARTA - The President Director of PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, Irfaniaputra, hopes that public trust will return to flying after the government distributes the COVID-19 vaccine to all levels of Indonesian society.

According to Irfan, even though the vaccines have been distributed, the campaign to ensure a sense of security for the public to return to flying for both tourism and business purposes must be intensified.

However, this BUMN is also still waiting for further health regulations and protocols from the government regarding vaccination for passengers.

"If this vaccine exists, people should be more confident. The question is, if I am vaccinated, then you are not vaccinated and we sit in a row, maybe this raises a new question. Should everyone who fly should be vaccinated," said Irfan as quoted by Antara, Friday October 30th.

The former CEO of Sigfox Indonesia did not deny that after vaccination was carried out, he could not fully return to the conditions before the COVID-19 pandemic. At least, it will take two to four years for the flight situation to return to normal.

With the still challenging world aviation situation, Irfan is grateful that the aviation industry in Indonesia still benefits from the strength of the domestic market. Unlike other international airlines, which rely on their country's position as a hub for aircraft transfers.

"I don't want to be optimistic, but we are grateful to have a domestic market, it remains how we capitalize on this and make Indonesians want to fly to Bali, Medan and the like," said Irfan.

Until now, Garuda has continued to carry out campaigns to socialize the application of health protocols to passengers with the aim of providing a sense of security during flights.

One of the campaigns carried out, namely the design of masks on the mouth of the aircraft, to show how serious the airline is in implementing the COVID-19 prevention health protocol.

The design created by a local child titled Indonesia Pride is emblazoned on the B737-800 NG fleet. The design of the livery mask raises the theme of pride for the richness of cultural diversity and natural charm of Indonesia, among others by displaying Barong Bali motifs, symbols of temple exoticism, iconic Indonesian Komodo dragons and various representations of cultural wealth and other national natural charms.