Garuda Indonesia Starts Serving Umrah Flights From Kertajati Airport

Illustration of Garuda Indonesia (Photo: Doc Antara)

JAKARTA - The national airline Garuda Indonesia inaugurated a direct flight service to the Holy Land from Kertajati International Airport, Majalengka. After previously opening a direct flight route from Banda Aceh to the Middle East.

This service is officially opened on Sunday 6 August 2023. The direct flight is served via the Kertajati-Jeddah pp flight route and operated with the B777-300 ER fleet. On the inaugural flight, Garuda Indonesia transported at least 370 prospective pilgrims to Jeddah.

President Director of Garuda Indonesia, Irfan Setiaputra, said that Kertajati-Jeddah pp flights are served once a week, namely on Sundays and operated with GA 902 which departs from Kertajati's international airport at 11.40 WIB and arrives at King Abdul Aziz's international airport at 17.30 LT.

Meanwhile flights from Jeddah to Kertajati will be served with GA 903 and will depart from King Abdul Aziz's international airport at 19.30 LT and will arrive at Kertajati's international airport at 10.00 WIB.

Irfan said the opening of the direct flight route to the Holy Land from Kertajati was not only Garuda Indonesia's efforts as a national flag carrier in presenting direct flights to the Holy Land for the people of West Java, but also a form of company support for the development of Kertajati airport as a flight hub in West Java.

"The presence of direct flights to the Holy Land from Kertajati is also our effort in optimizing the opportunities for the Umrah market which is currently growing, especially from the West Java region," said Irfan, in Jakarta, Monday, August 7.

Irfan said, the Umrah flight service from Kertajati, Majalengka is also in line with efforts to optimize the production capacity carried out by the company, where Garuda Indonesia continues to optimize flight routes with positive performance, including through the development of the Umrah market share as one of the leading market share in Indonesia.

One of the development of the Umrah market is carried out by optimizing direct flights to the Holy Land through five major cities in Indonesia which are carried out in stages, namely Banda Aceh, Yogyakarta, Makassar, Surabaya and Kertajati.

"The opening of direct flights to the Holy Land from Kertajati airport, Majalengka can not only provide added value for the people of West Java through a variety of direct accessibility to perform worship to the Holy Land through safe and comfortable flight services with more efficient time," he said.

Irfan also hopes that at the same time the opening of this flight can contribute to a positive concern for the economic growth of the West Answer, especially through Majalengka and its surroundings.