Vietnam Airlines and Garuda Indonesia have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation between the two airlines.

The deal focuses on a codeshare partnership, services, maintenance, repair, and overhaul, and cargo.

The signing ceremony was held on the sidelines of general secretary of Vietnam Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to Indonesia.

With the deal signed today by Duong Tri Thanh, president, Vietnam Airlines, and Pahala Mansury, president, Garuda Indonesia, the two airlines seek to expand their current codeshare partnership.

The new arrangement will cover the following routes: Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City-Singapore, Singapore-Jakarta/Bali and Jakarta-Bali.

The expansion of partnership between the two airlines is also supposed to strengthen their cooperation within and contribute to the development of Skyteam Alliance.

Commenting on the signing of this agreement, Duong Tri Thanh said: “Since 2006, Vietnam Airlines and Garuda Indonesia have effectively cooperated with tangible results.

“This deal takes our cooperation further in the direction of a solid and mutually beneficial partnership, helping both airlines achieve the vast potential of the market.

“With our long-time partner Garuda Indonesia, we hope to see more passengers travelling between Vietnam and Indonesia, and our customers can benefit from more flight options as well as excellent international service quality from Asia’s two leading airlines.”

According to the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, south-east Asia’s aviation market is expanding faster than the global average across nearly every country in the region, thanks to the region’s economic and middle class growth.

The need for air transport services in Indonesia is still expected to strengthen in line with improvement in economic growth.