Pacific Royale Airways

IATA code

ICAO code

Callsign

History

RY

PRQ

Skyrider

2011 - 2012

Pacific Royale Airways was an Indonesian full-service airline, based in Batam and Surabaya. It was founded in 2010 by an Indian businessman, Tarun Trikha, who had been president of Pelita Air Service and Riau Airlines. Because Indonesian law demands that at least 51% of an airline be owned by local entrepreneurs, he worked together with members of the Indonesian Goernani Gurnawan family. In those days Garuda Indonesia had the monopoly as a full-service airline in the country, all others like Lion Air, Citilink and Sriwijaya Air were considered as low-cost or medium-service carriers. So, Pacific Royale was intended as a direct competitor to Garuda, but did not survive long enough for reaching that goal. The airline received its operating license in November 2011 and the AOC was granted on 29 May 2012. Pacific Royale got approval for 62 domestic and 11 international routes, with a requirement of operating at least 10 aircraft within one year, of which at least five should be owned.

Pacific Royale bought five Fokker 50s, all from Ethiopian Airlines, of which three were taken into active service. The transaction was managed by Fortran Aviation Ltd of Singapore The first F50 arived in Bandung on 7 January 2012 and the third F50 joined the fleet in August 2012. The remaining two F50s stayed in Ethiopia. The Fokkers would fly domestic feeder services connecting Surabaya with Banyuwangi and Madiun in East-Java, and Batam with Pekanbaru, Jambi and the Natuna islands in the Riau archipelago. Pacific Royale performed its first commercial service on 11 June 2012, flying Surabaya-Semarang-Pangkalanbun-Semarang-Bandung-Semarang-Surabaya with F50 PK-PRB. Four days later PK-PRA inaugurated the route Batam-Jambi-Kerinci-Padang-Batam-Pekanbaru-Batam.

For the international destinations four Airbus 320s and a single Airbus 330 were planned to be leased. One A320 was sourced from Air Berlin, but never entered service and acquisition of the other Airbuses was cancelled. None of the intended international routes like Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Moscow did ever materialize.

In August 2012 the acting CEO, Mr Sukardi, resigned from his position due to disagreement with the shareholders on his new contract. Tarun Trikha, the airline’s founder, took over the CEO position. In September 2012 the airline had to suspend operations temporarily as a consequence of maintenance issues with its three F50s. The plan was to resume flying on 6 October after completion of the necessary maintenance, but the fleet remained grounded at Pondok Cabe airport. The Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority announced that the airline needed to obtain permission for maintaining its permit. After the Fokker fleet had not flown for 60 days, the AOC was revoked on 17 November 2012. Pacific Royale Airways ceased operations five months after its first revenue flight. Two F50s remained at Pondok Cabe and one was put in storage at Surabaya.

Pacific Royale Fokker fleet

Registration c/n Date in Date out Remarks
PK-PRA 20313 31-12-2011 17-11-2012
PK-PRB 20328 07-03-2012 17-11-2012
PK-PRC 20335 10-08-2012 17-11-2012
PK-*** 20331 never delivered
PK-*** 20333 never delivered

Pacific Royale Airways pictures

The first F50 in the fleet was PK-PRA (20313), seen here arriving in Indonesia after the ferry flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, still in all white color scheme. (unknown photographer; Bandung, 7 January 2012)

 

A rare shot of PK-PRB (20328) in full Pacific Royale livery on short finals. (Indika Primasiwi on Planespotters.net; Semarang, 13 July 2012)

 

The F50 that was in the Pacific Royale fleet for only three months, PK-PRC (20335), in storage after the airline ceased operations. Note the last digit of its registration on the nosewheel door. (unknown photographer; Pondok Cabe, February 2013)

Credits