Garuda takes off as Liverpool’s first training kit partner

Liverpool has unveiled the Garuda Indonesia airline as the first ever official training kit partner of the English Premier League football club.

The two-year deal will start in June and will cover the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. Garuda Indonesia became the club’s official airline partner in 2012 and transported the squad to its games during Liverpool's 2013 pre-season tour to Asia and Australia.

“Last year we flew Liverpool to their tour destinations,” Garuda Indonesia president and chief executive Emirsyah Satar said. “We saw first-hand the following that this club has, not only in Indonesia but in Thailand and Australia too. We knew then that this football club would be the perfect partner for Garuda Indonesia as we grow our airline across the world.”

Liverpool has more than 1.5 million Indonesian fans on social networking website Facebook and offers a local-language website – Indonesia.LiverpoolFC.com – to fans in the country.

The deal marks the third commercial partnership announced by Liverpool so far this month, with American confectionary company Dunkin’ Donuts and car maker Vauxhall having also signed up.