The Indonesian government has reportedly abandoned plans to resurrect defunct domestic and regional carrier, Merpati (Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta), later this year after creditors pushed for full payment of all outstanding debts. Government, through the Ministry of Finance, owned a 93.8% stake in the airline with Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) holding the remaining 6.2%.
State-owned Merpati collapsed in February last year under IDR6.7trillion (USD549million) in debt owed to various other parastatals that include airport operators Angkasa Pura I and Angkasa Pura II and energy company Pertamina among others.
Jakarta had planned to absorb the debt before establishing a successor firm, PT Merpati Aviation Service, in partnership with PT Bentang Persada Gemilang and PT Amagedon Indonesia. Bentang was to have served eastern Indonesia, while Amagedon was to have focussed on the western part. However, AINonline reports those plans were abandoned when the parties failed to agree on a funding structure.
At one point Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (Zhukovsky) and Xian Aircraft Company (Xi'an Yanliang) also expressed an interest in taking over the defunct carrier though nothing came of either's proposal.
Now, to make matters worse, government has said it has no funds to cover the airline's debts while Merpati's poor credit rating has severely affected its ability to lease new aircraft. As a result, plans to resurrect the carrier have now been officially dropped.
The carrier's former MRO unit was spun off from its parent as PT Merpati Maintenance Facility while the Ministry of Finance is still considering its options insofar as the PT Merpati Training Center is concerned.
Prior to its closure, Merpati had operated a fleet of six B737 Classics, fourteen MA-60s, five DHC-6s with orders for forty ARJ21-700s.
