Citilink

Garuda Indonesia established Citilink as a low-cost brand in 2001 and operations commenced on 16 July that year with two Fokker F28 Fellowships transferred from the mainline fleet. Initial operations were from Surabaya on the island of Java to destinations not served by Garuda Indonesia's mainline fleet: Yogyakarta (also on Java); Balikpapan on the island of Borneo and Tarakan, North Kalimantan, just off Borneo's coast; and Makassar on the island of Sulawesi.

By the end of 2001, Garuda had transferred five F28s to Citilink. In 2004, Citilink was serving ten destinations and Garuda began to replace the F28s with Boeing 737-300s. In 2008, Garuda temporarily suspended operations of Citilink, relaunching the brand in January 2009 after replacing the remaining Fokker F28s with more modern aircraft. In July 2010, Citilink operations were being conducted by two Boeing 737-300s and a Boeing 737-400.

Spinoff and expansion plans

In May 2011, Garuda announced plans for a spin-off of Citilink. The new business plan was for Citilink to become a separate business entity in the first quarter of 2012 with a full brand overhaul for the airline, including a new livery design; a new website; a new cabin interior design and cabin crew uniforms; and new advertising and marketing strategies.

An integral part of this plan was for Citilink to secure 25 new Airbus A320s and utilising these new and more economical aircraft to expand into a significant regional low-cost carrier with the anticipation that by 2015, Citilink would contribute 30 percent of Garuda Indonesia's revenue.

After obtaining an Air Operator's Certificate in August 2012, Citilink had carried 8 million passengers by the end of 2013 and was running at a load factor of 85 percent and an On-Time Arrival rate of 87 percent. In May 2015 the airline's fleet consisted of four Boeing 737-300s, four Boeing 737-500s, and thirty-four Airbus A320s.

In late 2019, Citilink took delivery of two Airbus A330-900s originally ordered by WOW Air which are to be used for flights to Germany, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. In June 2022, both Airbus A330-900s left the Citilink fleet and were transferred to Garuda Indonesia to complement the airline's Hajj operations. Both aircraft has since been transferred back to Citilink.

Destinations

As of May 2026, Citilink flies (or has flown) to the following destinations:

Codeshare agreements

Citilink has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Garuda Indonesia

Interline agreements

Hahn Air

Accidents and incidents

Citilink Flight 800 incident

On 28 December 2016, a video taken by a passenger aboard Citilink Flight 800, a flight from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya to Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Jakarta went viral after it purportedly showed a drunk pilot making a "bizarre announcement" before takeoff. Several passengers immediately reported the incident to the airline's headquarters. The crew of the flight quickly removed the drunk pilot from the cockpit. Due to the incident, the flight was delayed for an hour.

Citilink immediately took action by sacking the pilot involved in the incident and issuing letters of apology to affected passengers. The Indonesian Transport Ministry apologized publicly to the Indonesian people due to the incident. The ministry later added that the pilot had undergone drug testing, conducted by the Indonesian National Narcotic Agency.

Another video, captured from cameras at the airport security checkpoint, later surfaced and went viral. The footage showed the drunk pilot becoming jittery and nearly losing his balance during the security check. Police investigated the video, resulting in the Indonesian Transport Ministry sending Citilink its very first warning.

In the aftermath of the incident, the CEO of Citilink, Albert Burhan, resigned. The operational director of Citilink, Hadinoto Soedigno, also resigned in response to the incident.