Indonesian investment firm PT Bhakti Investama has expressed interest in acquiring the budget carrier Adam Air, which is under scrutiny after its plane crashed and killed all 102 people onboard, local press said Tuesday.

Bhakti already owns a number of strategic holdings, including a 49 percent stake in media and telecom group PT Bimantara Citra, through which, it owns a stake in Indonesian Air Transport (IAT), a publicly listed carrier established in 1968 that mainly provides charter services for oil and gas companies.

"Given our experience with IAT, which has an excellent safety record, we're certain that we will be able to create positive synergies and improve the way Adam Air is run," Bhakti president Hary Djaja was quoted by English daily The Jakarta Post as saying.

He did not elaborate his company's plans for Adam Air.

The low-cost airline now faces a severe blow when one of its Boeing 737-400 aircraft crashed into the sea off Sulawesi island on New Year's Day.

Adam Air, whose official name is PT Adam SkyConnection Airlines, came under scrutiny again when another Boeing made a hard landing and broke its fuselage last month.

In another report, the newspaper quoted a government finding as saying that Adam Air was among three companies of the lowest category of safety rating and their licenses would very likely be revoked.

The Transportation Ministry's survey, whose result is yet to be announced, covered 15 private and state-owned airliners.

Source: Xinhua