Jakarta. State-owned airline Garuda Indonesia received state funding amounting to Rp 7.5 trillion ($480 million) on Tuesday to help the company accelerate its recovery program as the aviation industry begins to gain some ground.

Garuda Chief Executive Officer Irfan Setiaputra said the fresh funding comes at a time when the national economic recovery, especially the tourism sector, is gaining momentum.

“We thank the government for the disbursement of the state funding, which represents its full support for Garuda’s mission to transform its performance,” Irfan said in a statement.

The management of Garuda has announced its ambition to transform the company into a profitable and full-service airline as the number of air passengers is heading to the pre-pandemic levels.

During the third quarter of 2022, Garuda Group transported 10.5 million passengers, an increase of 61 percent from the number of passengers in the previous quarter. Over the same period, total revenue also jumped to $1.5 billion from $939 million, according to data from the State-Owned Enterprise Ministry.

However, Garuda's shares have been suspended from trading since last June amid a dispute with creditors.

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The financial injection will be used to restore fleets, finance aircraft maintenance, purchase components, and support the company’s cash flow, Irfan added. 

“We are confident the materialized state funding will further strengthen Garuda’s efforts to accelerate the restructuring program which we aim to conclude by the end of this year. It’s certainly an important phase in Garuda’s attempts to get the most out of the national aviation recovery next year," Irfan said.