Citilink signals shift away from European long-haul plan

Indonesia’s Citilink appears to have shelved plans for long-haul flights to Europe, pivoting towards Asia instead. Commenting on its first widebody aircraft, an Airbus A330-900neo received from Avolon last month, vice-president for corporate secretary and corporate social responsibility Resty Kusandarina says, “The aircraft is being prepared for [international] expansion and strengthening Citilink’s [brand], through the launch of new services to Asia and the Middle East.” Last June, CE Juliandra Nurtjahjo said that the carrier is expecting to receive two new A330neos between October and December 2019, which will enable it to launch flights into Frankfurt and Jeddah. Then, he explained that the move to launch long-haul flights is part of Citilink’s long-term business plan and to align its strategy with parent company, Garuda Indonesia. It is unclear when Citilink will launch long-haul flights.<br/>