Garuda Indonesia Airlines
Overview:
Garuda Indonesia launched its rst direct ight
from London to Jakarta in March 2016 and has
been using its eet of Boeing 777-300ERs to
operate a ve times weekly service. An increase
from the three times a week service previously
operated from Gatwick. This tactical move by
the airline offers passengers a more exible
ight schedule and better connections.
Quick Facts:
• Indonesia’s national carrier has been
acknowledged as the World’s Best Regional
Airline, World’s Best Economy Class and
World’s Best Cabin Crew.
• The move also offers businesses across the
UK access to one of the largest economies in
South East Asia on a more permanent basis.
• Demonstrating the headway that Garuda
Indonesia has made since starting its services
at Gatwick Airport in September 2014.
The Case:
The airline decided to leave Gatwick for Heathrow
in order to launch a direct service and take
advantage of Heathrow’s unique offering as a
global hub for transferring passengers, as well as
giving UK passengers more ight options.
The Deployment:
As part of its move, Garuda Indonesia needed to
install network connectivity into its new ofce at
Heathrow Terminal 3. Garuda Indonesia engaged
the services of Heathrow Commercial Telecoms
for this project. It involved installation of head
ofce connections back to Indonesia as well as
local networking at areas of operation at Terminal
3. Heathrow Commercial Telecoms deployed a
number of services including Airport Hub (APH)
connectivity, Heathrow Broadband, Wireless (Wi-Fi)
and IP phones.
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Case Study
Business & Technology Drivers:
Garuda Airlines needed the solutions to cover
its business needs end-to-end, so staff could come
in and run the passenger services during their
shifts. This meant equipping staff with the latest
technology from IP phones to a wireless network.
Operating from a hub airport offering passengers
better transit and connection options meant the
ground staff at the airport had the best tools
at hand. Garuda’s aim is to be World’s Best
International airline by providing passengers with a
great experience from the moment they check-in.
It has also been a great leap for Garuda, moving
from Gatwick to Heathrow while increasing the
number of ights per week. Garuda selected the
future-proof technology offered by Commercial
Telecoms thereby proving its commitment to staff
motivation and customer satisfaction.
Common Infrastructure:
The concept of Common Infrastructure has
been developed at Heathrow over a number
of years. It is enabled by technology convergence
and driven by common requirements with the
aim of reducing costs, minimizing complexities
and maximizing exibility. Garuda have taken
advantage of Heathrow Airport Limited’s (HAL)
investment in the Common Infrastructure,
by leveraging the infrastructure that HAL has
already put in place.
“ We needed to make the move as simple as possible with
a very tight timescale for the project, and having Heathrow’s
own telecoms services helped us navigate the potential
complexities of an airport environment while making our
rst ight from Heathrow a success.”
Kevin Fernandes, Garuda Indonesia Airport Services Ofcer
Garuda Indonesia Airlines
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“ We are pleased to have Garuda Indonesia join other
international airlines at Heathrow. As a hub airport,
Heathrow has been able to meet expectations of both
airlines and passengers year on year. As we grow,
we remain focused and committed to providing
the best infrastructure solutions.”
Roberto Segala, Head of Heathrow Commercial telecoms.
Cost Benets:
By leveraging the investment HAL has already
made in network infrastructure, there was
no upfront hardware costs associated with
this type of installation. Switches, cabling,
resilience and testing all contribute considerably
when creating new networks or extending
an existing network.
This meant Garuda made huge savings, by not
having to lay out new infrastructure and also
on overall running of the project for making the
transition from Gatwick to Heathrow. Garuda did
not need to bear expenses for accommodation
and related costs on resources due to the
proximity of Commercial Telecoms’ team of
experts as opposed to having their IT
staff travel from their head ofce in Jakarta.
Working In Partnership:
Heathrow Commercial Telecoms engaged with
Garuda from the start of their planning cycle for
the move from Gatwick. Commercial Telecoms’
Account Managers work closely with Heathrow
Commercial Property and thus have knowledge
of new airlines moving into any of the Heathrow
Terminals. Account Managers are assigned to
each airline based on their Terminal location
to better understand the needs and help serve
them best. Thus leading to efciency in the
design and implementation of the project, while
focusing solely on making the transition smooth
for Garuda. Emphasis was given to deploying all
solutions on time so Garuda could continue to run
their operations effortlessly, with the Commercial
Telecoms team at hand for help and support.
Garuda Indonesia Airlines
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