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Pelita Air to join Garuda group, govt says
The government appears to still be mulling over its plan to merge Pelita Air and Garuda subsidiary Citilink in a bid to increase active fleet size and push down soaring flight prices, particularly over whether to retain Pelita or Citilink as the survivng entity.
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A Garuda Indonesia Airbus A330 lands on July 13, 2021 at Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport in Blang Bintang, Aceh. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)
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n its latest move to consolidate state-run airlines, the government is looking to transfer ownership of PT Pelita Air Service, a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas holding company Pertamina, to flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia.
Deputy State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Kartika Wirjoatmodjo said on Wednesday that Pelita’s fleet and related license would be transferred to Garuda’s low-cost carrier (LCC) Citilink, though he added that there was still a possibility for the government to maintain Pelita as a separate company.
“So under the Garuda group, there will be Garuda Indonesia, Citilink and Pelita Air,” he said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
Read also: Govt to merge three state-owned airlines
Pelita Air was initially introduced as a possible replacement for Garuda if the flag carrier failed to solve its mounting debt during a debt suspension case (PKPU) in 2022 that lasted several months.
However in June 2022, Garuda successfully obtained creditors’ approval for its proposal to restructure its liabilities totaling Rp 142 trillion (US$9 billion), which allowed the airline to avoid filing for bankruptcy.
In 2021, Garuda Indonesia and Citilink together commanded a third of the domestic air passenger market, according to the Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA).
