Garuda Indonesia is looking at acquiring or wet-leasing a business jet to support a new corporate charter service.
Early last year Garuda formed a corporate aircraft and charter division, but its product is limited to offering clients access to aircraft from its airline fleet, mainly Fokker F28s. Garuda believes there is demand in Indonesia for a higher-end product and is evaluating alternatives for sourcing business jets.
Several business jet manufacturers say they have discussed possible sales to Garuda, with the Embraer Legacy the apparent leading candidate. But the airline has not yet decided whether to invest in owning an aircraft outright.
"There is no evidence yet that they can buy an aircraft," says one of the manufacturers.
One alternative being examined is to charter or wet-lease an aircraft from an existing operator. For example, industry sources say Garuda and ShareJet are discussing a possible partnership involving the latter's Gulfstream IV.
Guam-based ShareJet began basing its GIV at Singapore's Seletar airport this month and the aircraft is available for charters throughout South-East Asia (Flight International, 27 January-2 February). Under the proposed partnerships, Garuda would charter the aircraft from ShareJet and sub-charter to clients.
Source: Flight International
