Garuda Indonesia files for Chapter 15 U.S. bankruptcy procedure – CEO

A worker walks on a crane as a Garuda Indonesia’s aircraft is parked at the Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF) AeroAsia, at Soekarno-Hatta International airport near Jakarta, Indonesia. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File hpoto

JAKARTA  – Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has requested that a court in New York recognize the airline’s recent debt restructuring deal in a Jakarta court, under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, its chief executive said on Monday.

Garuda filed the Chapter 15 case late last week at a New York bankruptcy court, CEO Irfan Setiaputra told Reuters.

Chapter 15 provides for cooperation between U.S. and foreign courts, if there is a U.S. financial interest in proceedings.

Garuda and its creditors agreed to halve its debt to about $5 billion in a deal overseen by a bankruptcy court in Jakarta in June.

However, the carrier’s restructuring agreement is currently being challenged in the country’s Supreme Court by an Ireland-based aircraft lessor, Greylag Goose Leasing, and no decision has been made so far.

The lessor has previously objected to the calculation of their claims at around 2.3 trillion rupiah ($152.07 million) in the restructuring agreement.

In a parliamentary hearing on Monday, finance ministry senior official Rionald Silaban said one of Garuda’s lessors Boeing had yet to participate in the restructuring plan, but said the U.S. planemaker “will eventually participate”.

Claims from Boeing to Garuda are estimated at $822 million.

Boeing did not immediately respond to request for comment.

($1 = 15,125.0000 rupiah)