CITILINK has finally obtained its Air Operator's Certificate from the Indonesian civil aviation authorities, marking its full separation from parent carrier, Garuda Indonesia.

Citilink, which has been operating 14 aircraft across 11 domestic routes connecting eight cities, has managed to secure the rights to fly a total of 70 domestic and 16 regional routes following the spin-off.

Citilink president Arif Wibowo was quoted by local media as saying: “We are going to focus on domestic routes this year, and will enter regional destinations such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and South Australia next year.”

Garuda president & CEO, Emirsyah Satar, said Citilink would receive six more aircraft by end-2012, and that its fleet would grow to 50 planes by 2015.

“Operating as an LCC, Citilink will target customers who prefer to travel by rail rather than by air, in line with their increasing buying power," he said.