Danantara's Strategy to Strengthen Garuda, Merger of Three State-Owned Airlines an Option

Danantara Indonesia has unveiled a comprehensive strategy to bolster the position of PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk within the national aviation industry. Rohan Hafas, Managing Director of Stakeholders Management at Danantara Indonesia, explained that this transformation is part of a measured, medium-term consolidation.

“2025 is a period for strengthening Garuda Indonesia’s fundamentals, and 2026 will serve as the foundation for optimisation. Our primary focus is to ensure operational readiness and a healthier financial structure as prerequisites for sustainable growth,” Rohan stated at Wisma Danantara, South Jakarta, on Thursday (February 26, 2026).

As a majority shareholder, Danantara prioritises the gradual improvement of fleet readiness throughout 2025. Aircraft maintenance and reactivation programs are being implemented diligently to ensure service quality before entering the capacity optimisation phase this year.

Rohan emphasised that the approach taken prioritises sustainability over aggressive expansion. “This approach places quality and sustainability as priorities, rather than short-term aggressive expansion,” he affirmed.

From a financial perspective, Danantara is strengthening the capital structure through a corporate scheme. This strategic step aims to:

Regarding the plan to integrate state-owned airlines, Rohan revealed that Danantara is assessing the best options to improve efficiency among the state-owned airlines. Currently, two schemes are being considered in depth.

The first option is to merge the three airlines into a single entity. The second option is to form an operational alliance within an integrated business unit.

“We will examine which option is more efficient for the operations of the state-owned airlines,” he added during a media interview.

Garuda Indonesia’s Main Focus in 2026:

With an increasingly stable foundation, Danantara is committed to ensuring that the entire transformation process of Garuda Indonesia is carried out accountably, transparently, and in accordance with good corporate governance principles.

Danantara Indonesia targets the formation of a holding company for state-owned enterprises (BUMN) to be completed in the first half of 2026. The holding company will consist of PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk (GIAA), GIAA’s subsidiary, PT Citilink Indonesia, and PT Pelita Air Service, which is Pertamina’s airline business unit.

Rohan explained that the formation of the holding company for state-owned airlines will create efficiency and optimise the booking system of the three companies. “The holding of Pelita, Citilink, and Garuda means one booking, one Garuda point, mileage, registration, and even seats can be exchanged, and so on. This will definitely be more efficient. So, it’s an optimisation of the booking system,” he said. (Ant/I-2)