Budget Citilink, the low-cost subsidiary of Garuda Indonesia, is expected to get its air operator’s certificate (AOC) by April, thus allowing it to operate as a separate entity, said Con Korfiatis, technical advisor to Citilink’s board of directors.

Citilink currently operates nine aircraft–Boeing 737-300s and Airbus A320s–serving eight domestic destinations. Deliveries of 25 A320s (10 of them being the new A320neo) start from 2014, running to 2017. By the end of 2012, Citilink Indonesia’s fleet of 20 aircraft will start flying to new destinations, including Yogyakarta, Padang and Pekanbaru.

Business prospects are huge, said Korfiatis, with Indonesia’s 60 million-strong domestic market expected to grow to 100 million by 2015. Of the 220 airports, 40 can accommodate the carrier’s narrowbody aircraft. Covering an area with a span greater than that from New York to Los Angeles, Korfiatis said there is potential in the future for operations using smaller aircraft for low-density markets, and he indicated that the airline will soon make a decision on acquiring 100-seat aircraft. “We are investing in aggressive growth,” he added.