Garuda Indonesia planning to serve U.S. routes by 2014 end

Garuda Indonesia, the national flag carrier of Indonesia, recently announced it is planning to serve on US routes by the end of 2014.

Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang S. Ervan said that great strides have been made by the national flag carrier in its safety record in recent years. He said that Garuda Indonesia flights are likely to find way in the U.S. airspace as soon as the ban on all Indonesian carriers is lifted.

The Transportation Ministry hoped that the Indonesian carriers would improve their records and climb to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s category one (safe) from category two (banned) by 2014.

Bambang said that Garuda Indonesia will be receiving new aircrafts in 2014 and will be ready to fly to the United States by then. He said that Los Angeles would be the airline’s first gateway in the U.S.

The airline currently has 94 aircrafts in its fleet and plans to increase its fleet by 244 aircrafts by the end of 2015.