Many Grounded Aircraft Become Garuda Indonesia's Financial Burden

JAKARTA - The Danantara Investment Management Agency (BPI) revealed that many aircraft that were grounded alias unemployed were one of the main causes of the financial pressure of PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk.

Managing Director of BPI Operations Holding Danantara Febriany Eddy revealed that this condition did not only occur in the Garuda Indonesia fleet, but also its subsidiary, Citilink Indonesia.

Febriany said the largest number of fleets grounded came from Citilink Indonesia. He said, the plane that was not operating actually created a double burden for airlines.

"If the plane is grounded, on airlines it is double hit. Because it is grounded, it has no revenue, no income, because it cannot fly," he said at Wisma Danantara, Jakarta, Friday, November 14.

According to Febriany, the longer the fleet is left unoperating, the greater pressure on Garuda Indonesia's financial reports.

"On the one hand, the plane rental continues, the fixed costs continue," he said.

For your information, until the third quarter of 2025, Garuda Indonesia recorded a loss of 182.53 million US dollars or around Rp. 3.03 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp. 16,650 per US dollar), an increase of 39.3 percent compared to the same period last year which lost 131.22 million US dollars or around Rp. 2.18 trillion.

Seeing this pressure, Danantara made the reactivation of landed aircraft one of the main priorities in the transformation of the state-owned airline company.

Danantara previously distributed loan shareholders worth IDR 6.65 trillion in June 2025, and most recently added capital injections of IDR 23.67 trillion through an additional capital scheme without pre-emptive rights (PMTHMETD).

According to Febriany, the largest portion of funding is allocated specifically for the maintenance or maintenance of the Garuda Indonesia fleet and its subsidiary, Citilink.

From the numbers we put in Garuda yesterday, most of them are for maintenance, maintenance. Because Garuda currently has a lot of landed planes, cannot fly, because they have not done the necessary maintenance," he said.

Dia berharap, program pemulihan armada ini dapat memastikan pesawat-pesawat yang sebelumnya grounded kembali mengudara pada tahun depan.

Pengaktifan kembali armada tersebut akan dibarengi dengan penataan ulang rute penerbangan, sehingga operasi Garuda dan Citilink lebih terarah pada rute-rute potensial yang memberikan kontribusi terbesar sekaligus memperkuat konektivitas nasional.

“Target kita adalah tahun depan itu semua pesawat yang hari ini grounded aircraft, semua bisa terbang. Tentu ini secara gradual ya,” ucap Febriany.

He hopes that this fleet recovery program can ensure that the planes that were previously grounded return to the air next year.

The reactivation of the fleet will be accompanied by rearrangement of flight routes, so that Garuda and Citilink operations are more directed at potential routes that make the biggest contribution while strengthening national connectivity.

"Our target is that next year all planes that are grounded by aircraft, all of them can fly. Of course, this is gradual," said Febriany.