JakartaPost-Aug 23
State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir has said he plans to merge the country’s three state-run airlines to improve services and reduce costs, although analysts have raised questions about the efficacy of the move. Erick pointed to a similar merger of four state-owned port operators, Pelindo I, II, III and IV, which he said had halved overall costs. Next, he said, the government would merge the state-owned airlines: national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, its low-cost subsidiary Citilink and Pelita Air, the airline arm of state-owned oil giant Pertamina. “SOEs need to keep bringing down costs. Pelindo has been merged from four companies into one […] We are also pushing for Pelita Air, Citilink and Garuda Indonesia [to do the same] to bring down costs as well,” Erick said in a statement on Monday. In 2021, Garuda Indonesia and Citilink together commanded a third of the domestic passenger aviation market, according to the Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA). Erick mentioned the plan during a discussion with members of the Indonesian diaspora in Tokyo, organized by state-owned lender BNI. He added that Indonesia’s state-owned airlines had 550 airplanes, 200 short of the official target. Merging the airlines, he said, could help the country meet the target figure. Read more at:
https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/08/23/govt-to-merge-three-state-owned-airlines.html.
