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itilink Indonesia, the low-cost subsidiary of Garuda Indonesia Airlines, has appointed PT Garuda Maintenance Facility Aero Asia (GMF) to provide aircraft component pool services for its Airbus A320 aircraft in a five-year contract.

The contract was signed by GMF president director Iwan Joeniarto and Citilink president director Juliandra Nurtjahjo in Jakarta on Wednesday evening.

Iwan said under the five-year contract, which would be worth about US$1.6 million a year, GMF would supply rotable equipment and provide maintenance services for 18 of 50 Citilink Airbus A320 aircraft. The aircraft component pool services for the other A320s will still be handled by other companies.

“The contract is worth $1.6 million a year for 18 A320 aircraft. But the contract value would increase if more aircraft are included. If the number of aircraft reaches 50, the contract figure can reach up to $6 million a year or $30 million for five years,” Iwan told The Jakarta Post after the signing of the contract, which also includes the supply for 800 part numbers within five years.

The aircraft component pooling contract was the first awarded by Citilink to GMF that is also a subsidiary of Garuda Indonesia, the country’s national flag carrier.

Iwan hoped the deal signed with Citilink could become a “window” for GMF to introduce its services to other local and even international airlines. “We believe that Citilink’s portfolio will promote GMF’s track record in global maintenance, repair and overhaul [MRO] industries,” he said.

Juliandra said the cooperation with GMF was also intended to improve efficiency within Garuda Group. “We want to improve efficiency. Maintenance is one of the five largest cost sources. Therefore, we need to be more efficient with it,” he said.

Iwan hoped Citilink’s pooling component would eventually be fully handled by GMF. For the future, GMF is trying to get customers for its component pool services outside Garuda Group. GMF also plans to improve its aircraft component capabilities, which is being targeted to be around 120 part numbers for various types of aircraft by the end of this year.

Citilink hopes the service level and component availability of GMF will be better than the previous suppliers so that Citilink’s on time performance (OTP) could be further improved.

In April this year, Citilink recorded 89 percent OTP for a total 8,590 flights, making it the most punctual airline in Southeast Asia during the month. “This May, we achieved around 85 or 86 percent,” said Juliandra.

Citilink Indonesia is an airline based in Jakarta and Surabaya. The airline has served more than 278 flight frequencies with 71 routes to 34 cities, not only in Indonesia but also Dili in Timor Leste and Penang in Malaysia.

GMF is an MRO service company that has been in operation for more than 65 years in Indonesia. The company has served customers from more than 55 countries. It has also received certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). (sau)