Garuda the most loved airline in the world

The nations flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has received a citation of “The Worlds Most Loved Airline” from the Skytrax, the world airline rating agency.

Garuda Indonesia President M Arif Wibowo said when receiving the citation here on Thursday that the airline topped other airlines with satisfaction rate of 85 percent.

“Our greatest thanks for our customers and airline workers,” Arif said, attributing the high appreciation for the airline performance to cooperation of a team of thousands hands in creating the strong brand.

He said he did not expect to receive the citation as he was not aware of the existence of that category.

He said the citation would bring bout challenge and at the same time give the airline a motivation to create the highest standard of service.

CEO of SkyTrax Edward Plaisted said the citation was given based on a survey involving respondents from 40 countries.

Garuda competed with 420 other airlines included in the survey, Plaisted said.

“Garuda deserves the citation for highest level of services and satisfaction,” he said.

The airline provides good facility for both main, business and economic classes with five-star standard, he said.

The airline has succeeded in taking a big leap forward after it was banned from flying to Europe several years earlier for poor service and performance including air accidents.

It also began to chalk up operating profit only in the past several years after years of being in the red.

Garuda also operated a budget subsidiary Citilink, which provided low-cost flights to multiple Indonesian destinations and was spun-off in 2012.