GA
Bcn_boy
You say you travelled with Garuda from Gatwick to Jakarta in 1994 and you said that shortly after they pulled the route, GA actually withdrew from LGW in 2003 although the flights were to Denpaser(Bali) at that time.
Garuda Indonesian is a completely different airline in 2013 then in 1994, I have previously flown Garuda from Jakarta to LGW and found them excellent.
The only downside to this is that the start date of Autumn 2013 is a longway off yet and as much as I want to see Gatwick with further long haul expansion the airport does not seem to hold on to them very long, it seems for every new long haul airline gained the airport seems to loose one at the same time meaning that by the time Garuda do start flights to LGW how long will the likes of Air China be at the airport.
In the last year including upto the end of March the airport will have lost several long haul airlines including Air Nigeria, Air Zimbabwe, Delta, Hong Kong Airlines, Korean Air, US Airways.
With the situation between Kuwait and Iraq now resolved and the fact that Iraqi Airlines seems to be growing with the purchase of new aircraft I can see Iraqi Airways announcing LGW flights soon as well as a possibility of Philippine Airlines once they have there EU ban lifted although they have stated that LHR is on the radar I think LGW might tempt them.
But good news for LGW and I look forward to seeing Garuda back at the airport.