Mandala Airlines in Indonesia has stop flying while the company attempts a restructure.
The Indonesian Transportation Ministry said that Mandala would be grounded for 45 days and might receive a permit extension up to three times before it would be officially terminated.
“Mandala has reported to us on its restructuring plans. Therefore, starting [on Thursday] it will stop flying to concentrate on solving its internal problems,†said a ministry chief.
“They still haven’t told us how long the restructuring process will take. We’ll see how things develop,†he said.
Mandala’s corporate secretary said the company was in need of funds to get through the restructuring process and to rebuild its brand.
The Transportation Ministry has instructed Mandala to refund tickets bought by customers or to refer them to other airlines for free.
Several travel agents stopped selling Mandala tickets when rumours of the airline’s troubles started to circulate yesterday.
Mandala recently launched international flights with routes connecting Jakarta-Singapore and Balikpapan-Singapore and signed to purchase 25 new airplanes.
