Indonesian firm to acquire troubled Adam Air
20/3/2007 17:03
Indonesian investment firm PT Bhakti Investama has expressed interest in
acquiring the budget carrier Adam Air, which is under scrutiny after its plane
crashed and killed all 102 people onboard, local press said today.
Bhakti
already owns a number of strategic holdings, including a 49 percent stake in
media and telecom group PT Bimantara Citra, through which, it owns a stake in
Indonesian Air Transport (IAT), a publicly listed carrier established in 1968
that mainly provides charter services for oil and gas companies.
"Given our
experience with IAT, which has an excellent safety record, we're certain that we
will be able to create positive synergies and improve the way Adam Air is run,"
Bhakti president Hary Djaja was quoted by English daily The Jakarta Post as
saying.
He did not elaborate his company's plans for Adam Air.
The
low-cost airline now faces a severe blow when one of its Boeing 737-400 aircraft
crashed into the sea off Sulawesi island on New Year's Day.
Adam Air, whose
official name is PT Adam SkyConnection Airlines, came under scrutiny again when
another Boeing made a hard landing and broke its fuselage last month.
In
another report, the newspaper quoted a government finding as saying that Adam
Air was among three companies of the lowest category of safety rating and their
licenses would very likely be revoked.
The Transportation Ministry's survey,
whose result is yet to be announced, covered 15 private and state-owned
airliners.
Xinhua
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