A flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia carried 10 tons of medical equipment – 1,150 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical supplies direct from China. The donations of medical equipment support were carried by Airbus A330 direct from Guangzhou, China with flight code number GA 889, and arrived at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Thursday night (31/4).

On that day, the arrival of Garuda airplane were welcomed by the BUMN (State-Owned Corporation) Minister Erick Thohir, the Secretary of BUMN Ministry Susyanto, the President Director PT Garuda Indonesia Irfan Setiaputra, and the President Director PT Angkasa Pura II Muhammad Awaluddin.

Besides the flight of GA 889, there are 3 more flights that will carry medical equipment again like PPE, ventilators and other equipment by Garuda passengers’ flights by optimizing passengers’ compartments and the belly for cargoes.

The deliveries of donation are as the result of joint venture with many companies in Indonesia to fight against Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia.

The Managing Director of Garuda Indonesia Irfan Setiaputra explained, “In line with the full support from Garuda Indonesia through the implementation of transportation management policy during the homecoming period, as a national flag carrier we committed to take our role actively in handling the Covid-19 pandemic by assuring the air connectivity keeps operating with all provisions and limitation for the sake of people and the national logistics distribution smoothness”.

“We will do this by intensive communication with the government and related authorities in assuring the readiness of aviation service accessibility needs is in line with the continuous mission of Covid-19 spread prevention through clear and measurable health protocol implementation, especially related to the derivative policy of Transportation Minister Regulation (Permenhub) Number 25/2020 that manage about the stipulation of aviation service operation during the pandemic,” explained Irfan.

“We fully realized that, beyond the pandemic, there have been various activities (actions) for public interests that should be still moving on and need service access of air transportation. Therefore, our readiness for the flight service operation we strive to be a sustainable step with the government to make sure that public’ needs can be fulfilled well,” closed Irfan.