Indonesia’s flag carrier’s low cost subsidiary, Citilink Indonesia, has acquired a new aircraft that will alow it to operate extra services during the upcoming Eid holiday period.
The Airbus A320 aircraft, which arrived from Hamburg, Germany on Thursday, is the 35th new aircraft acquired by the airline, said the Executive Director for Citilink Indonesia, Albert Burhan, through a press conference in Jakarta.
“The addition of the new aircraft is reflective of the company’s growth in the first quarter (Q1) of 2015, which would also support Citilink’s ambition to expand its’ reach and stake in the domestic aviation industry,” said Burhan.
“The arrival of this aircraft will also enable is to operate more services in light of the upcoming Ramadhan peak season,” said Burhan, before adding that Citilink plans to add up to 16 more flights per day between June 1 to June 15, 2015.
It is known that extra services will be added to Citilink’s existing services between Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport and Jogjakarta, Solo, Malang, Batam, Bali, and Medan’s Kuala Namu airport.
Burhan explained in the press conference that Citilink needs to have at least 50 aircraft in order to get a bigger chunk of the domestic, low-cost aviation market. Citilink’s fleet, he continued, will grow to around 40 units by the end if the year, which will allow it to meet its’ target of delivering services to 11,2 million passengers annually – up from 7,6 million in 2014.
