Merpati (Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) is planning to resume commercial operations during the course of 2017 the Deputy for Restructuring and Business Development in the Indonesian Ministry of State Owned Enterprises, Aloysius K. Ro, has announced.
Merpati ceased operations in February 2014 after it failed to service nearly IDR7 trillion worth of debt owed to other parastatals including airport operators Angkasa Pura I and Angkasa Pura II and energy company Pertamina among others. It specialized in serving the more remote areas of the Indonesian archipelago using B737 Classics, MA-60s, and DHC-6 Twin Otters.
Speaking to the Tempo news agency, Ro said the relaunch would coincide with the completion of the defunct carrier's restructuring programme. Thus far, majority shareholder, government, has injected IDR500 billion rupiah (USD38.3 million) into Merpati to cover its debt portfolio while laying off 1,500 staff.
"We hope it can resume operations in 2017 if in the remaining one year it receives a privatization permit from the Finance Minister and investors are ready to invest in it," he said. “[But] it is not easy to find investors to invest in air transport business under normal condition, let alone in a difficult one as experienced by Merpati."
Initial operations will likely focus on Papua, Indonesia's largest and easternmost province, using a fleet of twenty-seater turboprops.
