Garuda Indonesia inducts two A330s for Hajj charters

Garuda Indonesia, with debt halved, seeks new investors

Jakarta has confirmed Garuda Indonesia free of bankruptcy, prompting the Indonesian government to immediately start the search for new investors, deputy minister for state-owned enterprises Kartika Wirjoatmodjo told reporters. The ministry has been in talks with several foreign airlines and financial investors, he added.

Such investors will have the resources to aid the flag carrier’s new business plan, the minister said after the airline managed to gain creditor support to restructure its IDR142 trillion rupiah (USD9.5 billion) worth of liabilities, the Indonesian news agency Antara reported Kartika as saying. Garuda has managed to halve this debt, through court-led negotiations and in out-of-court settlements, to USD5.1 billion, he said.

Garuda Indonesia has also cut aircraft leasing costs in negotiations that began more than two years ago. To accommodate new shareholders, the government said it was prepared to cut its shareholding to no less than 51%, inject a further IDR7.5 trillion (USD500 million) into Garuda’s capital this year, and conduct a rights offering in the fourth quarter to raise additional cash.

Among the investors being targeted are “hub...

Garuda Indonesia emerges from creditor protection

Saudia outlines plans to deploy 14 aircraft on Hajj charters

Saudia (SV, Jeddah) has announced plans to deploy 14 aircraft on Hajj charters to operate 268 international flights and 32 domestic flights in the first post-COVID pilgrimage season.

The Hajj pilgrimage will take place between July 7-12, 2022. The pilgrimage was severely curtailed in 2020 and 2021 as Saudi Arabia did not let Muslim pilgrims from other countries attend. In 2019, nearly 2.5 million pilgrims attended the Hajj, with 1.85 million arriving at Madinah or Jeddah by air.

Saudia did not provide the breakdown of the 14-strong fleet it has dedicated to its Hajj charters. It did not respond to ch-aviation's request for clarification. However, analysis of Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows it recently wet-leased five aircraft:

• A330-300s 9H-SMG (msn 1533) and 9H-SMH (msn 1549) from SmartLynx Airlines Malta (LYX, Malta Int'l), which have been operating from Jeddah and Madinah to destinations in India (Kolkata Int'l, Kochi Int'l, Hyderabad Int'l, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow) since June 8, and
• B747-400s 9H-AZA (msn 32871), 9H-AZB...

Creditors allow Garuda Indonesia, Citilink to slash fleet