U.S. invites Garuda to return to airspace

Garuda Indonesia has been invited by the U.S. Government to resume its flights between the United States and Indonesia, according to recent media reports.

The airline, which terminated flights to Los Angeles in 1998, will be assisted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to resume operations.

The Minister of Transportation for Indonesia Freddy Numberi told Bisnis Indonesia that the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron R. Hume had delivered the invitation after Indonesian aviation was moved from a cautionary category II rating to a category I rating.

“This offer looks to be a good opportunity for Garuda and all of Indonesia” said Numberi.

However, Garuda chief executive Emirsyah Satar said this week the airline was focusing on Europe, where the airline will recommence flights to in June 2010 after five years of absence.

He added that the earliest the airline might consider resuming flights to the United States would be 2012.