Carrefour to host Citilink ticket stalls

JAKARTA. Low-cost airline Citilink will open ticket stalls in Carrefour’s outlets in the country to promote its sales to local travelers.

The move represents further cooperation between Citilink and Carrefour. Since Dec. 2, 2013, they have cooperated to provide Citilink ticket payment services in 47 Carrefour stores, some of which are located in Greater Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Palembang, Semarang, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Denpasar and Makassar.

Despite providing a solution for those wanting to buy airline tickets and shop in the same store, the plan is also one of Carrefour’s strategies to compete in the retail market in Indonesia this year, Trans Retail Indonesia external communications and corporate social responsibility head Hendrik Adrianto said during a media gathering in South Jakarta on Friday.

“Opening airline ticket stalls is our strategy to get more customers,” said Hendrik to reporters. Trans Retail is the operator of Carrefour’s stores in Indonesia. Hendrik said the number of customers interested in low-cost carriers was still growing and it was a business opportunity Carrefour should take.

Carrefour and Citilink are following up this cooperation by discussing licensing, placement and customer service. Carrefour, 60 percent of which was acquired by local tycoon Chairul Tanjung in 2012 in a US$750 million deal, recently opened two stores in Cibinong, West Java, and Makassar, South Sulawesi, to bring the total number of stores to 85, spanning 28 cities or districts across Indonesia.

This year, the retail giant will continue to introduce new stores, said Hendrik in a statement. “We will expand our stores in Sulawesi and other potential areas,” Hendrik said, without giving details on how many stores Carrefour would add, their location and when they would be opened.