The government has merged the two state-run airport operators Angkasa Pura I (AP I) and Angkasa Pura II (AP II) into a new sub-holding company, PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia, according to a statement released on Thursday.
Deputy Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, Kartika Wirjoatmodjo, has confirmed the establishment of PT Aviasi Pariwisata Indonesia.
“Yes PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia has been officially established,” said Kartiko Wirjoatmodjo as quoted by detikcom on Thursday.
After the merger, Angkasa Pura Indonesia will be the fifth-largest airport operator in the world, operating 35 airports across the archipelago and serving 172 million passengers each year.
“With this transformation, we hope that airport management will be more integrated and efficient,” State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Erick Thohir said in the statement.
“This [merger] is a sign of the adaptability of SOEs in facing the changing times,” he said.
The merger was completed by state-owned tourism holding company PT Aviasi Pariwisata Indonesia, or InJourney, which oversees the country’s tourism and commercial aviation sectors.
As a subholding company of InJourney, PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia is to operate under the brand name InJourney Airports.
Erick said that the merger of AP I and AP II, which operated airports in the country’s eastern and western regions, respectively, was part of a “broader effort” to optimize Indonesia’s economic, tourism and logistics potentials. He expressed hope that merging the two SOEs would improve the quality of airport services while standardizing systems and policies across the aviation sector.