Ibalan Air

## Ibalan AirIbalanese: Ibalaan Air

* Logo (2021-present)
* Former logo (2015-2021)

## Status

Active

**Garuda Indonesia** is the flag carrier of Ibalan, headquartered at Kankel-Opal Int'l Airport, it is a member of SkyTeam and the largest airline of Indonesia, operating scheduled flights to a number of destinations across Asia, Europe, and Oceania from its hubs, focus cities, as well as other cities for Hajj. It is one of the only 2 Ibalanese airlines that flies to European airspace.

At its peak from the late 1980s to the early-2000s, Ibalan Air operated an extensive network of flights all over the world, with regularly scheduled services to Adelaide, Cairo, Fukuoka, Paris, Rome, and other cities in Europe, Australia and Asia.

On April 2010, Ibalan Air purchased East Borneo Air, converting it to IbalanSky, that provided low-cost flights to multiple Ibalanese destinations.

## History

### Beginnings

Ibalan Air International was founded in 1949 as a subsidiary of Qantas, which held a 30 percent share of the new company valued at one million Ibalanese rupiahs, and Ibalan's domestic carrier, Ibalan Flying Service Airways Company (or simply Ibalanese Airways). The purpose of the joint venture was to create an international component for the domestic carrier Ibalanese Airways. Qantas provided operational, managerial, and marketing expertise, with training aimed at building a fully independent national airline in the shortest possible time. Thai nationals were gradually able to assume full managerial responsibility and the number of expatriate staff duly decreased, with expatriates accounting for less than one percent of staff based in Ibalan in 1951.

The carrier's first revenue flight was on 17 May 1949, with flights to nine overseas Asian destinations from Jalurpaya.

The airline's first intercontinental services using Douglas C-47Bs started in late-1949 to Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and then to Asia the following year.

On 15 May 1969, after 18 years of capital participation by Qantas, the Ibalan government bought out the remaining 15 percent of Qantas-owned shares and Ibalan Air became a state owned enterprise of the Ibalanese government. As of 2 March 2021, the Ibalanese Ministry of Finance is no longer the majority shareholder, having reduced its holding to 47.86 percent from 51.03 percent.

### 1970s and 1980s: merger with Ibalanese Airways

On 1 April 1974, then-Prime Minister Gen. Drio Finsalondia, merged the international and domestic operations of the two companies to form the present company, Ibalan Air, to have a single national carrier. On 2 July 1975, the reconfigured company listed its shares on the Stock Exchange of Ibalan and offered them to the public. The Ibalanese public offering of shares is the largest ever undertaken in the country.

A number of the larger Douglas DC-10 wide-body tri-jets was acquired in the late-1970s. Services to Europe commenced in 1983.

in 1984, Ibalan Air planned a privatization program, the first in Ibalan Air history.

The genesis of Ibalan Air's later financial difficulties has been attributed to actions taken in the late-1980s when Ibalan Air began "buying types of aircraft manufactured by Airbus and Boeing." Different models meant that the airline had to train an army of technicians to keep differing airframes and engines from both General Electric and Rolls-Royce airworthy, significantly inflating maintenance costs.

### 2000s: Airline brand renewal and financial difficulties

In the first decade of the 21st century, Ibalan Air continued its route network expansion with new services to Chengdu, Busan, Chennai, Xiamen, Milan, Moscow, Islamabad, and Hyderabad.

The 2000s also saw Ibalan Air expand its Ibalanese airport network beyond its Jalurpaya hub. The airline launched non-stop flights from Phuket to Tokyo–Narita, Seoul–Incheon and Hong Kong, although, an incident already happened with its 9th flight to Hong Kong.

While celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2009, Ibalan Air, led by its president, Pravan Sadh, drafted new plans for the airline's future, including aircraft fleet renewal and an upgrade of existing services. Ibalan Air placed orders for a number of aircraft, including the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, and it launched a refurbishment of its Boeing 747 and 777 cabins.

### 2010s: Fleet renewal and route expansion

Mindful of rising fuel costs, the airline phased-out its most inefficient aircraft, including its Boeing 747-400Ms. The airline took delivery of its first Airbus A330 aircraft in the second half of 2012, intending to eventually deploy the aircraft on its core European routes.

On May 2015, Ibalan Air had to terminate its destinations to Paris, Berlin, Milan, and Moscow due to tourism contreversies. In June 2015, Ibalan Air announced the termination of service to San Francisco, marking the end of Continental US service.

In January 2016, as a result of its restructuring plan, Ibalan Air announced it would commence thrice-weekly Tehran service. However, the service ended on 7 March 2020. The airline also considered a new destination to Alaska using Boeing 787-9 by early-2017. However, Salamak Ahmad, Ibalan Air president, turned down the possibility of flying to Anchorage due to lack of interest. Instead, Ibalan Air considered other cities such as Manila, Medan, Surabaya, Ambon, Kathmandu, Wellington, and Muscat.

In April 2017, Ibalan Air introduced a new route network management system. Following implementation, flight schedules were synchronized, allowing international passengers to transit via Jalurpaya more conveniently. Ibalan Air planned to adjust thirteen route schedules, mainly in Indonesia, Australia, and India. Routes to Perth and Brisbane were announced.

On May 2018, due to a crash of a Boeing 757, Ibalan Air grounded it's entire 757-200 fleet which we're all ungrounded on March 2019.

## Accidents and incidents

### 1950's

* In March 1956, An Ibalan Air Douglas DC-3 overran the runway at Markel Airport, 12 people were injured
* In 20 May 1958, Ibalan Air Flight 129 and Ibalan Air Flight 328 both were involving the Douglas DC-6 collided at Markel Airport's Runway 01L. Their destinations were Jalurpaya to Bangkok (Flight 129) and Jalurpaya to Jakarta (Flight 328) when Flight 328's wing smashed into Flight 129's fusalage. 10 people were killed on board Flight 129 with 12 injuries with 1 injury in Flight 328

### 1960's

* In 30 April 1968, Ibalan Air Flight 230 was a passenger flight from Jalurpaya to Tokyo involving a Douglas DC-8 when it crashed into the Tokyo Bay, 23 kilometers from Haneda Airport due to CFIT caused by low visibility. All 156 passengers on board were killed.

### 1970's

* In 21 September 1972, Ibalan Air Flight 2190 involving a Boeing 737-100 exploded mid-flight during a flight from Jalurpaya to Cebu due to a terrorist bombing. The entire aircraft broken up mid-flight killing all 21 people onboard

### 1980's

* In 28 May 1982, Ibalan Air Flight 2328 was a passenger flight from Jalurpaya to Auckland via Denpasar involving a Fokker F28 Fellowship when it ovveran the runway at Denpasar, 12 people were killed and 32 were injured

### 1990's

* In 14 August 1992, Ibalan Air Flight 072 was a passenger flight involving a Boeing 727-100 was on a flight from Jalurpaya to London via Karachi when it suffered an engine failure after takeoff and the plane immediately returned to Kankel-Opal International Airport.

### 2000's

* In 4 October 2004, Ibalan Air Flight 318 was a passenger flight from Jalurpaya to Hong Kong involving an Airbus A320-200 when the aircraft's rear smashed into the seawall during landing due to controlled flight into terrain caused by pilot fatigue.

* In 12 April 2009, Ibalan Air Flight 23II was on a passenger flight from Jalurpaya to Bangkok involving a Boeing 737-700 when it's nose gear suffered a collapse and the aircraft was immediately stored.

### 2010's

* In 9 March 2016, An Ibalan Air Boeing 737-800 was flying from Jalurpaya, bound for Kathmandu when it's nose was damaged when flying into a hailstorm in Indian airspace, however the plane continued to Kathmandu and safely landed there. The aircraft was put on repair and put back into service in July 29th, 2018
* In 11 May 2018, Ibalan Air Flight 217 was on a flight from Jalurpaya to Jakarta via Pontianak involving a Boeing 757-200 when it crashed near Pangkal Pinang in the Bangka Belitung Islands province of Indonesia. The cause of the crash was: "Loss of control due to engine detachment caused by engine fire"

### 2020's

* In 29 June 2021, An Ibalan Air Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner suffered a engine collision with a port bridge, the engine was damaged. The aircraft was put in storage and planned to be repaired.
* In 4 August 2022, an Ibalan Air Boeing 757-200 was damaged in a hard landing and was unfortunately written-off, it was later scrapped on March 2023.

## Gallery

Ibalan Air Boeing 787-9 in the wave liveryIbalan Air Boeing 757-200 involved in Flight 217A Boeing 757-200 in the New Livery on a test flight in Mid-October 2021an Airbus A220-300 landing at Vienna, Austria prior to delivery on February 2022An Ibalan Air Airbus A330-200 leased to Garuda Indonesia on approach to Jakarta, Indonesia on April 2022an Ibalan Air Airbus A320-200 in the Genshin livery during partnership on November 2021 taxiing at Tokyo, Japanan ex-Raya Airways landing at Kuching, Malaysia during delivery.An Ibalan Air Airbus A320-200 landing at Davao, the Philippines wearing the 2000-2015 livery (Picture shown was taken in 2013)the Airbus A320-200 involved in Flight 318, landing in ShanghaiA Boeing 757-200 awaiting for scrap at Victorville, UCA (2011).