One of Indonesia's wealthiest businessmen is making moves to be the major player in Indonesia's airline industry.
Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who is reportedly the 15th wealthiest person in Indonesia, is establishing a full-service airline called Star Eagle under his holding company Bhakti Investama which already owns Indonesia Air Transport (IAT) and has a 50% stake in Indonesia's Adam Air.
The new airline's chief financial officer Erwin Anderson says Star Eagle has applied for an air operator's certificate and plans to launch operations in September or October.
It is currently seeking Boeing 737-800s on lease and has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bombardier for the purchase of "not more than" 20 Bombardier CRJ900s.
No commercial airlines in Indonesia currently operate CRJ aircraft and Anderson says this aircraft type will be useful on some of Star Eagle's domestic routes as its smaller capacity, compared to the 737-800, makes it easier to fill.
Star Eagle also plans to operate from Indonesia to destinations in Asia and will be positioned differently to Bhakti Investama's other two airlines. It will be positioned as a full-service airline, allowing it to compete more directly against Garuda Indonesia.
Adam Air is marketed as a "boutique airline" but is perceived to be a low-cost carrier.
Meanwhile, IAT is a small but profitable charter operator using turboprops. It has applied to the Indonesian authorities to convert to a scheduled operator and plans to operate on smaller domestic routes using ATR 42-500s and provide feeder services to Star Eagle.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
