Get a fully flat bed and wi-fi to Amsterdam for £139 one way

Back in March I wrote about how Garuda, the Indonesian airline, was launching a new service to Jakarta.

The original plan was for three direct flights per week from London Gatwick, starting last May.  As time passed, Garuda decided that this did not make financial sense for them.

A new plan was hatched.  The existing service to Amsterdam, which stopped in Abu Dhabi, was upgraded to a brand new Boeing 777-300ER.  The flights were then retimed so that, as of September 7th, the service could continue to Gatwick.

The upside is that there is now a 5-times-per-week ‘through service’ from Gatwick to Jakarta.  It just isn’t a ‘direct service’ as you need to get off the plane for an hour in Amsterdam.

One quirk of this flight is that Garuda is selling very cheap business class tickets between Gatwick and Amsterdam.

You will get to sit in their impressive new fully flat business class seats with a whopping 73 inches of legroom.  The service even has on-board wi-fi.

You can buy a one-way ticket in business class to Amsterdam for just £139 all-in.  You can also fly in economy for £51-£61, but where is the fun in that?!

The flight times are not the greatest but it may work for you.   The flight departs Gatwick at 13.00 (13.10 at the weekend) and arrives in Amsterdam at 15.20.   Flights depart on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The in-bound flight to London leaves Amsterdam at 11.25 and lands at 11.45.  This is priced at £147 in business class and £48 one-way in economy.

A return flight in business class is £252.

Lounge access is presumably included, as is a full luggage allowance.

As Garuda is in Skyteam, you will be able to credit this flight to your Flying Blue, Delta or any other Skyteam account.

You can find more information on these services here.  I may even be tempted to give it a go myself!

PS.  If you have £900 to burn, you can book yourself into Garuda’s First Class private suites to Amsterdam.  Not convinced of the value for money in that one, to be honest …..