Tigerair Mandala (Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) filed for bankruptcy at the Central Jakarta Commercial Court in early December the Jakarta Times reports. The defunct carrier has been unable to service over IDR15trillion (USD120.45 million) in debt owed to shareholders and creditors since it suspended operations in July last year.
In an interview, the carrier's lawyer, Zaky Tandjung, said efforts to rejuvenate the airline had come to naught partly as a result of a weak Indonesian Rupiah and high jet fuel prices at the time.
However, in his objection to the filing, Mandala board member Hariadi Supangkat said the motion should be rejected on the grounds that the carrier's Singaporean shareholder, Tigerair (Singapore Changi), had done so unilaterally and had not consulted its Indonesian partners which include the equity firm Saratoga Capital and PT Cardig International.
Sapangkat claimed bankruptcy protection should not be granted as the airline still had potential to be profitable.
