Citilink

Spinoff and expansion plans

In May 2011 Garuda announced plans for a spin-off of Citilink. The new business plan was for Citilink to become a separate business entity in the first quarter of 2012 with a full brand overhaul for the airline, including a new livery design, new website, a new cabin interior design, new advertising and marketing strategies and new cabin crew uniforms. An integral part of this plan is for Citilink to secure 25 new Airbus A320s and utilising these new and more economical aircraft to expand into a significant regional low cost carrier with the anticipation that by 2015, Citilink will contribute 30 percent of Garuda Indonesia's revenue.

Citilink carried 2 million passengers in 2011 and is expected to reach 8.3 million passengers by 2013 with route expansion to the eastern part of Indonesia and regional international routes to Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Australia.

Destinations

Fleet

As of February 2017, Citilink operates the following aircraft:

On 9 August 2011, Garuda Indonesia finalised an order for 25 A320 aircraft with an option of 25 more, making the airline a new customer for the Airbus single aisle aircraft type. The order consists of 15 Airbus A320 and 10 Airbus A320neo, with 5 units expected to be delivered each year between 2014 and 2018. All A320s are to be operated by Citilink and are proposed to replace the existing 737 fleet. The fleet upgrade program was valued at around $2.13 billion.

By late 2011, Garuda Indonesia was seeking for more used A320s in preparation for the launch of proposed international Citilink services in 2012. In September 2011 the airline announced plans to introduce four more used A320s to enter into service between October 2011 and February 2012. The five A320s are outside of Garuda Indonesia's firm order of 25 A320s announced on 21 June 2011.

In December 2012, Citilink placed an order for 25 ATR 72-600 with options for 25 more. This was Citilink's first direct order to a manufacturer. A direct order for 25 additional A320neo followed in January 2013, bringing up the total order to 35.

Citilink’s first A320 arrived in late June 2011 and was painted and readied in Citilink’s new livery at the Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF). The aircraft was configured with 180 seats and is a used aircraft. This first A320 entered into service on 16 September 2011, linking Jakarta with Balikpapan, Banjarmasin and Medan.

Citilink continues to operate ex-Garuda narrow-body aircraft consisting of four Boeing 737-300s and four Boeing 737-400s in addition to the recently commissioned used A320; however, the airline has announced these ageing aircraft are soon to be phased out. The new A320 fleet is intended to allow the airline to complement the existing services to eight cities in Indonesia with plans for new destinations.

In September 2013, Citilink cancelled the plan of operating ATR 72-600 as its parent company Garuda Indonesia took over the order citing commercial reasons.

Cabin

Citilink cabin has 180 seats. Seats on row 1-5 is named green seat. Passengers that want to sit on green seat must pay 110.000 IDR (row 1) and 85.000 IDR (row 2-5) that can be paid during check in or booking. To book or requesting seat (row 6-31) during booking or web check in, passengers must pay 30.000-60.000 IDR.

Ticket and passengers service charge

Since 2 December 2013, Citilink tickets can be bought at Citilink stall in 47 Carrefour stores spread in Greater Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Palembang, Semarang, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Denpasar and Makassar.

Initially 1 February 2014, all tickets for departing from airports which are managed by Angkasa Pura I and II include a passengers' service charge (airport tax) for passengers' conveniences.

Citilink Flight 800 incident

The incident occurred on 28 December 2016 when a video taken aboard Citilink Flight 800, a flight from Surabaya Juanda International Airport to Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport went viral after it purportedly show a drunk pilot making a "bizarre announcement" before its take off roll. Several passengers immediately reported the incident to the airline's headquarter. The crews of the flight quickly removed the drunk pilot. Due to the incident, the flight was delayed for an hour.

Citilink immediately took action on the incident. They immediately fired the drunk pilot and issued an apologetic letter to the people affected by the incident. As the video went viral, the incident brought another spotlight on Indonesian aviation, sparking massive public outcry. The incident was widely reported in the media, several international news organization also covered the incident. Indonesian Transport Ministry apologized to the Indonesian people due to the incident. The ministry later added that a test into the pilot had been conducted by the Indonesian National Narcotic Agency.

Another video, this time on the airport security checkpoint, showed that the drunk pilot become jittery and even nearly lose his balance during the security check. The police then investigated the video. Indonesian Transport Ministry then sent Citilink their very first warning.

In the aftermath of the incident, the CEO of Citilink, Albert Burhan, resigned. The operational director of Citilink, Hadinoto Soedigno, also resigned in response to the incident. Indonesian Transport Minister Budi Karya praised their actions due to the incident, stating that they were "very gentle".