Garuda Indonesia Group has declined Indonesia AirAsia's offer to acquire Citilink (QG, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta), president director Ari Askhara has said.

The AirAsia Group subsidiary's chief executive, Dendy Kurniawan, had earlier told local media that the LCC was only interested in partnering Citilink if it meant it could acquire the airline from Garuda. He highlighted the similarities in the size and make-up of their fleets as well as the commercial synergies that could be exploited if a merger were to take place.

However, according to Tempo, Ashkara said there had been no internal discussions within Garuda regarding the sale of Citilink nor had Indonesia AirAsia tendered any formal offers.

“Citilink is doing better than AirAsia, even under Garuda’s new management,” he said.

Ashkara did, however, confirm that talks about possible cooperation, not an acquisition, had taken place between Garuda and AirAsia during the tenure of his predecessor, Pahala N. Mansury.