L

ongtime player Mandala Airlines plans to make a comeback and resume their flight services on April 4 after financial woes halted operations in January last year, a senior official said.

“We recently issued Mandala’s Air Operator Certificate [AOC] and they are ready to fly on April 4,” Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Saturday.

Bambang said that the AOC was given to Mandala’s top management on Wednesday after an AOC review process that lasted four months.

The airline will operate 10 new Airbus A320 aircraft this year in its previous routes, such as Jakarta–Singapore, Jakarta–Balikpapan, Balikpapan–Singapore, and Denpasar–Singapore.

However, as the airline will only operate two aircraft in the first month of operation, it will offer limited flight service with special routes.

He said that Mandala will resume their flights in two routes, which are Jakarta–Singapore–Medan–Singapore–Jakarta, and Jakarta–Singapore–Denpasar–Jakarta.

“This is Mandala’s strategy to cater to more passengers with limited aircraft,” he said.

Mandala has undergone a financial restructuring process in accordance with Indonesian law after the suspension of its operations last year.

The largest shareholder in the restructured Mandala is the Saratoga Group, which holds a 51.3 percent stake, followed by Singapore based Tiger Airways Holdings Limited, which holds a 33 percent stake, while the remaining 15.7 percent is held by the previous shareholders and creditors of Mandala.

The completion of the 33 percent stake purchase was concluded in February.

The restructured airline plans to offer low-fare travel to international and domestic Indonesian destinations located within a five-hour flying radius.

Contacted separately, Saratoga Group cofounder Sandiaga Uno said that he took great pride in helping Mandala return to the Indonesian sky.

“We are delighted that Mandala will return to the sky in April and participate in Indonesia’s fast growing aviation industry,” Sandiaga told the Post.

He said that two of the airline’s aircraft have been parked in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport terminal three in Cengkareng, Banten.

Mandala’s A320s will arrive gradually until they have 10 aircraft by the end of this year.

The government had previously said that the airline industry in Indonesia will see strong growth this year due to the expansion plans of the existing operators — including Mandala and new comer Pacific Royale.

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, for example, has announced it would broaden its network in Asia and soon introduce new routes, including Denpasar to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, beginning on April 27, and from Jakarta to Taipei, Taiwan, starting on May 19.

In addition, Pacific Royale is set to start operations in April or May with routes connecting big cities in the archipelago and also serving international destinations, such as Mumbai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

The new premium player has won approval to fly 81 routes, 70 percent of which will be domestic.

Bambang said that the Pacific Royale’s process to obtain the AOC is already in its last phase and the airline is currently waiting for flight tests. (nfo)