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Pelita Air diversifies into scheduled flights
The state-owned chartered airline is bringing back scheduled flight services, which were initially stopped in 2005.
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S
tate-owned charter airline PT Pelita Air Service has begun diversifying into scheduled flights after plans emerged last year that it might take over some operations of ailing national carrier Garuda Indonesia.
Pelita Air said on Monday it received two Airbus A320 aircraft at Soekarno Hatta airport in Tangerang, Banten, that would serve the scheduled flights. The aircraft bore a new livery of red, blue and green to mark the new service.
Pelita Air acting president director Muhammad S Fauzani said the company was undergoing a process to certify the two aircraft. The company has talked to regulators, airport operators, air traffic controllers and cabin crews about the plan.
“Today is a historic milestone for this company that used to focus on chartered flights,” he said.
The State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry revealed in October last year plans for Pelita Air to take over Garuda Indonesia’s domestic routes in the event Garuda failed to renegotiate leases and restructure its Rp 70 trillion (US$4.94 billion) debt.
Read also: Charter airline Pelita Air may take over Garuda
Pelita Air, a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas giant Pertamina, had five years' experience in operating scheduled flights between 2000 and 2005, but then chose to focus on its core business of charter flights due to high competition and low profitability when serving scheduled flights.
Pertamina spokesperson Fajriyah Usman said the parent company supported Pelita Air’s diversification plan to improve its business performance and to strengthen domestic flight connectivity.
“Pertamina supports Pelita Air Service’s corporate action to improve business performance,” she said.
As of 2020, Pelita Air had 29 aircraft in its fleet: 12 fixed-wing aircraft and 17 rotary-wing aircraft, according to its latest financial report. The company mainly serves chartered flights to regions with oil and gas-related activities such as upstream production and refining.
Aviation consultant Gerry Soedjatman previously told The Jakarta Post that it would be relatively easy for Pelita Air to expand its fleet as the COVID-19 pandemic had forced many airlines across the world to sell their aircraft.
However, Pelita Air will also face competition for those aircraft, including from the newly launched low-cost Indonesian carrier Super Air Jet, which already plans to buy between 20 and 30 planes, Gerry said.
