Etihad Airways and Garuda Indonesia will explore more areas of collaboration "in the light of current market opportunities and company requirements", including cargo, maintenance, repair and overhaul, as well as pilot and crew training services, according to the statement. The partners signed an initial agreement covering these areas of discussion on the sidelines of the B20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, on November 12. "With both airlines’ extensive networks worldwide and nationally, we believe that this extended partnership will not only give added value to Garuda Indonesia’s passengers to access popular destinations across the globe, especially to the United States, Turkey and Abu Dhabi, but will also offer a range of domestic destinations, especially in the area of east Indonesia for Etihad’s passengers," Irfan Setiaputra, president and chief executive of Garuda Indonesia, said. Indonesia is an archipelago spanning more than 17,000 islands, making air travel necessary for the transport of people and goods, and providing "significant opportunities" for airlines to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.<br/>