Asia airline suspensions, country closures 23-29MAR

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...

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Air India wins antitrust nod to buy AirAsia India

Antitrust regulator the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said on June 14 that it “approves the acquisition of the entire shareholding in AirAsia India by Air India.”

While Tata Sons currently has a 83.67% shareholding in budget airline AirAsia India, the flag carrier Air India has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of the conglomerate since Tata bought it in January via its vehicle Talace Private Limited in a USD2.4 billion equity-and-debt deal. AirAsia Investment Ltd, part of Malaysia’s Capital A, holds the remaining 16.33% of AirAsia India, and the Malaysian group has hinted since 2020 that it may seek to exit the joint venture.

Tata Sons requested competition authority approval in April to merge the two airlines, proposing that Air India acquire a 100% stake in the low-cost carrier.

“The proposed combination relates to the acquisition of the entire equity share capital of AirAsia India Private Limited by Air India Ltd, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Limited,” the CCI notice outlined in its approval. “A detailed order of...