Garuda administrators recognize $8.3 billion of claims

Administrators for PT Garuda Indonesia have acknowledged claims worth 120.5 trillion rupiah ($8.3 billion) as the beleaguered airline seeks to restructure its debts. 

Documents posted online showed the biggest claim coming from Airbus SE at more than 7.8 trillion rupiah. Oil company PT Pertamina, which is looking to recover 7.5 trillion rupiah, also featured on the list labeled “final.”

The figures come ahead of a key scheduled court date for Garuda on Thursday to lay out its restructuring plan. A final vote on the proposal is due to take place later this month. 

Like many airlines, the Indonesian carrier’s business took a hit due to Covid-19. It currently is operating only about 20% of its pre-pandemic fleet, limiting its ability to raise revenue to repay its debts. 

The acknowledged tally of 120.5 trillion rupiah stands in contrast to 163 trillion rupiah worth of bills that creditors put forward, the documents showed. The latter is lower than the previously reported figure of 198 trillion rupiah. 

Martin Patrick Nagel, a court-appointed administrator, did not answer calls nor respond to text messages from Bloomberg News on Tuesday seeking clarification on the discrepancies.

Among the reasons cited by administrators for rejecting claims were that bills had already been paid or that there was no record of the expenditure. Some claims from sukuk holders got rejected on the grounds they needed to submit them via a trustee. 

Once an agreement between the carrier and its creditors is struck, the Indonesian government plans a rights issue in two stages this year to raise additional funds.