Gapura Angkasa's Cash Flow Is Depressed, Management Of Aviation SOE Holding: One Of Them Is Because Of Garuda Indonesia's IDR 600 Billion Debt

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Gapura Angkasa)

JAKARTA - The state-owned joint venture company, PT Gapura Angkasa (Persero) is experiencing cash flow pressure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Director of the Project Management Office (PMO) of the Aviation and Tourism SOE Holding, Edwin Hidayat, said Gapura's pressure was caused by a number of factors. These include the decrease in the number of passengers and the unpaid debt of PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk.

For your information, Gapura Angkasa is a provider of flight services in the form of ground handling at airports owned by PT Angkasa Pura I (Persero) and Angkasa Pura II (Persero). Ground Handling relates to the handling or service of baggage, cargo, postal, auxiliary equipment for the movement of aircraft on the ground and while at the airport, both for departure and arrival.

"This state-owned company has a ground handling named PT Gapura. PT Gapura is in a very unfavorable condition because the product has dropped a lot because the number (of passengers) has dropped", he said during a hearing with Commission VI of the House of Representatives (DPR), Thursday, September 2.

Furthermore, Edwin said the decline in domestic flight traffic resulted in a decrease in total ground handling production by 30.5 percent from 2018 to 2021. Meanwhile, this service is the main revenue contributor to the profitability of the flight support service business reaching 60.5 percent.

In addition, said Edwin, Garuda Indonesia's slump also affected the company's performance. Because the level of production also depends on the performance of the state-owned airline.

"PT Gapura's condition is very unfavorable because the product has dropped once due to a decrease in quantity. And it has a huge impact on Garuda's current condition, Garuda's outstanding debt to Gapura is more than IDR 600 billion, so production has dropped, which is very burdensome", he said.

Therefore, Edwin hopes that Gapura must be saved as the recovery continues. The reason is that without the rescue and arrangement of Gapura's business, the road to recovery of the aviation business will be lame. He said PT Aviasi Wisata Indonesia as Aviation Holding and Supporter also needed capital strengthening to develop services, business arrangements, and Gapura Angkasa portfolios.

Edwin said that his party would allocate a State Capital Participation (PMN) of IDR 700 billion for capital.

"We hope that we will allocate IDR 700 billion to Gapura. For capital strengthening and also equipment rejuvenation, including managing its business portfolio", he said.

For your information, initially, Garuda carried out the ground handling itself. However, considering the need for professional services and demands for optimal work results without neglecting the elements of security, safety, reliability, and punctuality, Garuda handed over ground handling activities to other parties so that they could concentrate on aircraft operations.

From there the beginning of the establishment of Gapura Angkasa. So as of November 21, 2019, the share ownership structure of Gapura Angkasa is Angkasa Pura II with 46.62 percent, Garuda Indonesia 45.62 percent and Angkasa Pura I 7.76 percent.

As previously reported, the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises has explained that the reason for the accumulation of Garuda's debt to reach IDR 70 trillion is due to the aircraft leasing costs that are beyond reasonable limits.

Deputy Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Kartiko Wirjoatmodjo said that several types of aircraft caused the increase in costs. Examples include Boeing 737, Boeing 777, Airbus A320, A330, ATR, and Bombardier.

"This is a problem with efficiency, plus the routes that are flown a lot are not profitable", he said in a Working Meeting (Raker) with Commission IV of the DPR RI, Thursday, June 3.