Mandala close to securing AOC

PT. Mandala Airlines is in the final stages of obtaining its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) from the Transportation Ministry.

“We are in the final processes of activating our AOC,” President Director Diono Nurjadin said Monday as quoted by tempo.co.

Diono said he was sure the AOC would be issued by Jan.12, 2012, which is the deadline given by the civil aviation authority for the company to obtain a business license (SIUP).

Diono said Mandala would receive Airbus 320 planes at the end of the year. However, he refused to reveal the number of planes the company would operate. “We are still discussing it,” he said.

Early this year Mandala announced that it would temporarily halt operations after revealing debts of Rp 2.45 trillion (US$286.65 million).

The Saratoga Group acquired 51 percent of the airline’s shares in May, while Singapore-based Tiger Airways acquired 33 percent. Other creditors, through a debt-to-equity swap, hold the remaining 16 percent.