PKPU Extended, Garuda Indonesia Optimizes Verification And Negotiation Stages With Creditors

President Director of Garuda Indonesia, Irfan Setiaputra. (Photo: personal, DI: Raga/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Panel of Judges of the Jakarta District Court has decided to extend the process of Postponing Permanent Debt Payment Obligations (PKPU) for 60 days until May 20, 2022. This was welcomed by the management of PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk.

Garuda Indonesia President Director Irfan Setiaputra said the PKPU process is a complex and multi-layered process. So it needs to be carried out with the principle of prudence, both for Garuda and creditors.

"We understand that this process is also not easy for the parties, so it takes a longer time to fulfill the administrative and verification requirements," he said in an official statement, Tuesday, March 22.

Irfan said Garuda appreciates most of the creditors who have completed the verification stage and continue to provide their commitment to support Garuda. In line with the determination of the extension of the Permanent PKPU, Garuda with the supervision and support from the management team has communicated regularly to creditors regarding the points of reconciliation.

Meanwhile, Garuda has also received constructive input from creditors in order to produce the best agreement for all parties in line with restructuring efforts and accelerating the airline's recovery.

"We emphasize again that through this extension process, Garuda can optimize the process of reconciling bills with several creditors, negotiating and discussing the restructuring scheme, as well as considering requests from several creditors to complete verification documents," he said.

Garuda hopes that all stakeholders can use the momentum of this PKPU extension to optimize all suggestions and inputs for the peace plan, continue the verification process, match the amount of receivables and verify taxes.

For that, said Irfan, Garuda will continue to optimize the synergy of various parties, to be able to complete the process smoothly. This is done so that optimal and fair results can be achieved through a peace agreement.

Welcome the recovery of the aviation industry

While the PKPU process was ongoing, said Irfan, Garuda also welcomed the gradual recovery of the aviation industry in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in line with the mobility travel relaxation policy.

"At the end of March 2022, Garuda recorded an increase in passenger traffic of 58.7 percent compared to the period before the mobility relaxation policy in early March 2022," he said.

This increase, said Irfan, was also supported by the international Mandalika MotoGP as well as the momentum of relaxation of international flights through the operation of a number of Garuda's international routes, such as Narita-Denpasar, Sydney-Denpasar, Surabaya-Madinah, and Jakarta-Madinah.

Irfan also emphasized that all flight services including passenger, cargo and aircraft maintenance services will continue to operate normally.

"The support of various parties as well as the cooperation of various stakeholders have an important role for Garuda to be able to continue to accelerate its best efforts to make the PKPU process a success and encourage the company to become a more agile, adaptive and competitive business entity," he said.