Danantara Prepares Merger of Pelita Air into Garuda Indonesia, Here is the Strategy
Danantara, together with the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BP BUMN), is driving the consolidation of state-owned airlines by merging Pelita Air into Garuda Indonesia as a step to strengthen the national aviation industry.
“In the future, Garuda Indonesia will become our airline holding company. Pelita Air will become part of Garuda Indonesia,” said Head of BP BUMN and COO of Danantara Dony Oskaria in an official statement on Saturday (25/7/2026).
Dony believes the consolidation of state-owned airlines will strengthen the group’s capacity to face competition in the aviation industry. “With this consolidation, these companies will have stronger capabilities to compete and dominate the market,” Dony said.
Beyond strengthening the corporate structure, Dony emphasised that the aviation industry is a business requiring high precision and rapid decision-making in every operational aspect to maintain company performance. “An industry that requires precision, which must be managed day by day, minute by minute, is the aviation industry. Once the plane takes off, we can already measure the profit or loss of a single flight. Therefore, it is important to analyse every route and connectivity,” Dony stated.
In line with this, BP BUMN and Danantara are also pushing for a comprehensive improvement in Garuda Group’s service standards, from pre-flight, in-flight, to post-flight. Service enhancement is carried out through the integration of ticketing systems, improvement of lounge quality, cabin experience, cabin crew service standards, catering quality, strengthening of customer loyalty programmes, and human resource development.
Through consolidation and improved service quality across the entire passenger journey chain, Garuda Group is expected to become the airline of choice for the Indonesian public while increasing its competitiveness as a major player at the regional level.
President Prabowo Subianto, during a briefing at the Plenary Cabinet Session at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday (20/7/2026), stated that state funds saved after closing, merging, and consolidating 250 state-owned enterprises by 31 July 2026 reached Rp 50 trillion. These savings, Prabowo said, represent routine overhead costs that can be saved because the state no longer needs to pay directors, commissioners, building rent and electricity, and other expenses for those 250 SOEs.
On that occasion, President Prabowo targeted that by the end of 2026, the number of remaining SOEs would be a maximum of 350, down from the original 1,077. “They (Danantara) have agreed,” Prabowo said. If this streamlining is realised, the President believes the budget savings could approach Rp 70 trillion to Rp 80 trillion. Therefore, the President also believes that Danantara is one of the important achievements of his administration.