Pelita Air (IP, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) in which the two have pledged to develop services out of airports currently managed by Pelita Air chief among them Jakarta Pondok Cabe Airport on the southern outskirts of Jakarta. Pelita Air is currently trying to develop Jakarta Pondok Cabe into a commercial airfield.

Under the deal, the two airlines will also cooperate in the development of charter flights to destinations primarily in the underserved eastern half of Indonesia, using Garuda's growing fleet of ATR72-600 and CRJ1000ER narrowbodies.

“In line with our fleet expansion plan, the partnership with Pelita Air will hopefully boost our route development efforts for propeller aircraft, as well as maximizing Pondok Cabe’s operational base for shorter routes within the Jakarta region with less than two hours of flying time,” Iwan Joeniarto, the technical and information technology director at Garuda Indonesia, said during the signing ceremony on Thursday, October 29.

Using a fleet of one ATR42-500, three ATR72-500s, an ARJ85, three DHC-7-100s, six CN-212s, two F100s and a variety of helicopters, Pelita Air operates charter flights for and on behalf of the state oil company Pertamina specializing in VIP as well as oil and petroleum operations.