Pelita Air at the Heart of Indonesia's Red Flag Airline Revitalization

PT Pelita Air Service (Pelita Air) has added Airbus A320 aircraft to its fleet. Pelita Air CEO Dendy Kurniawan said the aircraft is the ninth unit out of the 11 aircraft ordered for 2023. The 10th and 11th aircraft will arrive in the fourth week of November 2023. According to Dendy, the public's interest in Pelita Air is relatively high, as reflected in the third-quarter seat load factor, reaching 83 percent on average.

"The Government's mandate to continuously improve national air connectivity and the high level of public interest in Pelita Air are the main factors driving Pelita Air to increase its fleet size to enhance flight frequency and introduce new flight routes," Dendy said on Oct 25.

Previously, State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Deputy Minister Kartika Wirjoatmodjo mentioned that Pelita Air would merge with Citilink Indonesia, the subsidiary of PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. According to Kartika, Pelita Air's regular flight license will be transferred to Citilink, while Pelita Air will focus on charter flights under the PT Pertamina (Persero) group. "It will serve Pertamina's operations," he stated. The merger is expected to take place this year or next year.