AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) owner Capital A has signed a "strategic partnership" with Garuda Indonesia Group, the entity behind Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) and Citilink aimed at a deeper working relationship across various business lines.
Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes and Garuda Indonesia President and CEO Irfan Setiaputra signed the agreement at a September 27 event in Jakarta. It foresees, for example, cooperation between the logistics and MRO subsidiaries of both airline groups. The key component, however, is an interlining MOU between AirAsia and Citilink - the first such agreement ever signed by Capital A aviation wing AirAsia Aviation Group - and will allow passengers increased access to third- and fourth-tier cities across the ten-country ASEAN bloc.
"The partnership will leverage on the depth of close to 50 domestic destinations in Indonesia covered by Citilink with the breadth of AirAsia's 150 ASEAN international destinations," a Capital A statement said. "Initial launch of selected routes by Q1 2024 will provide a seamless transfer experience for both inbound and outbound travellers, with checked-through baggage service and issuance of boarding passes from point of origin."
A new partnership between Capital A’s logistics venture Teleport and Garuda Indonesia Cargo will combine both parties' air logistics networks. Using a single airway bill, it will allow customers to ship freight across Teleport's network of 160 airports and Garuda Cargo's network of 90 airports.
"Teleport will leverage Garuda's strong domestic connectivity and added skidded capacity into high-demand sectors, such as Singapore Changi, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong International bound flights," the statement said. "Garuda will tap into Teleport's strong network connectivity across Southeast Asia and Greater China with extended connectivity into key Asia Pacific cities such as Taipei Taoyuan, Sydney Kingsford Smith, Auckland International and Delhi International, among others."
Finally, the collaboration accommodates ongoing discussions between both MRO subsidiaries, Asia Digital Engineering (ADE) and Garuda Indonesia's GMF AeroAsia, "to further explore opportunities for another strategic partnership that will leverage on mutual strengths and efficiencies as well as ASEAN’s strategic location to deliver greater [...] MRO services to third-party airlines seeking maintenance support."
