Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), Erick Thohir, has targeted the merger of three state-owned airlines − PT Garuda Indonesia, PT Pelita Air Service and PT Citilink Indonesia − in the first quarter of this year.
He, however, has yet to announce which entity of the three companies will survive when the merger process takes place.
“We talked about the synergy and restructuring process carried out by each airline in this merger process,” Erick said on Thursday, January 2, 2025.
He said further that the services of the three airlines will not be stopped while awaiting the completion of the merger. The government through the merger of the three airlines will focus on maximum consolidation, he cited.
The merger of the three airlines is part of the efforts to pursue business efficiency and increase competitiveness of the national aviation industry so that it will be ready to compete with global players.
Erick assessed that the merger process of the three airlines could reduce wasteful costs.
Meanwhile, to handle wasteful costs, Erick cited that the government would reorganize Terminal 2F of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport for Umrah (minor haj pilgrimage) flights.
Previously, the government planned to construct Terminal 4 of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport that will be used as a departure point for Umrah flights. But, the plan was scrapped as the government has opted to reorganize Terminal 2F due to cost.
Later, the reorganization of Terminal 2F is expected to increase the number of arrivals from 65 million passengers to 110 million passengers per year.
