Merpati (Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) has temporarily suspended ticket sales at the beginning of this month and plans to also suspend operations for a period of at least one month according to an internal memo sent to its staff. It has partnered PT Bentang Persada Gemilang and PT Amagedon Indonesia following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Merpati's owner, the Indonesian state. Speaking to Bisnis.id, Indonesia's Minister for State-owned enterprises, Dahlan Iskan, said the partnership will result in the creation of a new subsidiary, PT Merpati Aviation Service. “Merpati Aviation Service will carry out all business expansion plan prepared by the two joint operation partners. Bentang will serve flights to eastern part of Indonesia, while Amagedon will focus on the western part,” he said. Merpati's two existing subsidiaries, PT Merpati Maintenance Facility and PT Merpati Training Center, will be spun off from its parent. “These two units have been transferred to PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset (Persero),” he added. In terms of its fleet, Merpati will likely redeploy its fleet of thirteen MA-60s to the east of the country. In line with recent route terminations, Merpati was left with just two operational B737-300s used to service Makassar - Merauke and Denpasar - Dili flights. As it stands, four B737s - PK-MDU (msn 28200), PK-MDS (msn 24708), PK-MDY (msn 26316) and PK-MDR (msn 26334) - are to be returned to their lessors shortly. Riddled with more than IDR7trillion (USD571million) in outstanding debt to airport operators Angkasa Pura I and Angkasa Pura II among others, Jakarta sees the restructuring as a solution to persistent Merpati's viability problems. Recently, Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina said it will only supply jet fuel to Merpati on a cash basis after the airline twice breached its maximum debt limit. Merpati owes Pertamina IDR165billion (USD13.5million). Since Mr Iskan outlined his plans to restructure and eventually privatize Merpati in 2013, a number of prospective investors have shown interest with plans including using a wet-leased B777 to operate pilgrimage flights.