Pelita Air and Citilink Response to Merger Plan with Garuda

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The state-owned airlines, Citilink and Pelita Air, responded to the merger plans with Garuda Indonesia. The Director of PT Citilink Indonesia Dewa Kadek Rai said that the company welcomes the merger to bolster efficiency through share resources and collaborations.

"Especially with Pelita," said Dewa to Tempo on Tuesday, August 22, 2023.

Citilink is a subsidiary of PT Garuda Indonesia while PT Pelita Air Service is a subsidiary of PT Pertamina. According to Dewa, the merger with Citilink is targeted to be finalized this year.

The sentiment is shared with the Director of PT Pelita Air Dendy Kurniawan, which agreed that the merger with Garuda is strategic and beneficial.

"I am supporting the state-owned airlines' synergizing process to be healthier and maintain the affordability of ticket prices and the national air connectivity," said Dendy. 

Dendy also said that the SOEs Ministry will head the merger process, and further information regarding the merger will be delivered by the ministry.

Previously, SOEs Minister Erick Thohir said that the government is trying to reduce national logistic costs, and one of the measures is by conducting mergers to increase the efficiency of state-owned enterprises. The ministry has merged four companies into one Pelindo as an integrated port service in Indonesia, and looking to expand the program into the airlines sector.

"[SOEs Ministry] is looking to merge Pelita Air, Citilink, and Garuda to suppress the [logistic] costs," he said on Monday, August 21, 2023.

In addition to suppressing the logistic costs, the merger is intended to increase the number of airplanes in Indonesia. Compared to the US, Indonesia is short of around 200 airplanes.

AMELIA RAHIMA SARI | CAESAR AKBAR

Editor's Choice: Garuda Indonesia Responds to Merger Issue

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News