Five-star airline Garuda Indonesia, is to offer the only return, non-stop flights between the UK and Indonesia, with a new service operating from Jakarta's Soekarno–Hatta International Airport to London Heathrow from 31 October.

The new return leg of the Indonesian flag carrier's existing Heathrow to Jakarta service, will be the only non-stop flight to fly from Jakarta to London and will mean cutting out the previous stopover at Singapore Changi Airport. It will also make Garuda Indonesia the only airline operating non-stop flights on the route both inbound and outbound.

Boydike Kussudiarso, General Manager UK & Ireland says: “Operating non-stop flights from Jakarta to London has been a significant goal of ours for many years, even more so since the new Terminal 3 at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport – which opened just last year – became our home this May.

“We wanted to introduce the non-stop service to reflect Jakarta's growing profile as a hub for international and domestic travel, allowing UK travellers and our SkyTeam Frequent Travellers better connections to more destinations.

“The new service will mean that we can offer the only non-stop links between the UK and Indonesia, making us a desirable airline for business and leisure travellers alike travelling between the two countries.”

The announcement also coincides with a new schedule that will see the previous Sunday outbound service rescheduled to Thursday. Non-stop flights will continue to operate three times per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, enabling better connections for UK passengers travelling onwards from Jakarta to domestic Indonesian destinations including Surabaya, Medan, Jogyakarta, Makassar, Labuan Bajo and Garuda Indonesia's secondary hub Denpasar, Bali.

The airline has also amended flight timings to boost connections from the UK to Australia (Melbourne, Sydney and Perth), the Far East (Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul) and China (Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai).

Singapore will still remain well connected with up to ten flights per day from Jakarta.

Enveloping all five senses, the unique Garuda Indonesia on-board experience, including the smell of aromatic flowers and traditional Indonesian food, ensures that passengers are fully immersed in all that Indonesia has to offer. The airline recently won “The World's Best Cabin Crew” award for the fourth year running and is ranked as one of the Skytrax World Airline “Top 10 Global Airlines”.

The new flight schedule will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at the following times:

GA87: Departs London Heathrow (LHR) 21:55, arrives at Jakarta (CGK) 18:55 (+1)

GA86: Departs Jakarta (CGK) 12:05, arrives London Heathrow (LHR) 20:00

The non-stop route will continue to utilise the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a three-class configuration.

To book flights, visit www.garuda-indonesia.com.