Boeing to help market RI jets in N. America

Boeing to help market RI jets in N. America

JAKARTA (JP): The America-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing
Co. pledged yesterday to help Indonesia's state aircraft maker PT
Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) market its N-2130 jets
in North America.

"Boeing wants to help in the marketing of the N-2130 along
with after-sales services because its cooperation with PT IPTN in
the past 15 years has been fruitful," Minister of Research and
Technology B.J. Habibie told journalists after accompanying
Boeing's chief executive officer, Frank Shrontz in a meeting with
President Soeharto at the latter's residence.

IPTN has so far produced components for Boeing's 737 and 767
planes since 1992.

Shrontz, who arrived here last Saturday to attend the
Indonesia Air Show, said he met with Soeharto to express his
gratitude to the flag carrier Garuda Indonesia for agreeing to
purchase newly developed Boeing 777 aircraft.

Garuda Indonesia last week signed a US$1.6 billion order for
the purchase of 23 Boeing aircraft, including six Boeing 777s, 12
737-300s and five 737-500s.

Habibie, who is also president of IPTN, said the 130-seater N-
2130 jets, when they enter the market by year 2006, are expected
to replace Boeing's 737 jets.

"Boeing has promised to focus its businesses on building wide-
body planes like Boeing 747 and Boeing 777," Habibie said.

IPTN is now moving ahead with plans to build the twin-jet,
electronically-controlled N-2130, whose roll-out is scheduled for
2002 and marketing for 2006.

President Soeharto has called upon Indonesians to help finance
the N-2130 project, expected to cost some US$2 billion by buying
shares of PT Dua Satu Tiga Puluh, the company established last
February to finance the project. Soeharto himself is so far the
biggest shareholder in the company.

The N-2130 jets will be the next centerpiece of Indonesia's
aerospace program following the path of the medium-haul 70-seat
N-250 turboprop plane, which made its maiden flight last August.

IPTN said that it has firm orders for 245 N-250s, mostly from
domestic airlines. Gulfstream of the United States as well as
Pakistani and a number of European leasing companies have also
placed orders for the aircraft.

IPTN, set up in 1976, currently has two subsidiaries in the
United States: IPTN North America based in Seattle, the home base
of Boeing, and the American Regional Aircraft Industry (Amrai)
based in Alabama, which will assemble N-250 aircraft with kits
shipped from Indonesia. IPTN plans to launch its N-250 passenger
aircraft in the U.S. market in 1998. The marketing will be
handled by Amrai.

IPTN last year established another subsidiary in Lemwerder,
Germany, to market all of the company's products to aviation
firms in Europe.

Also last year, the company opened a permanent office in the
United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi to boost future sales
of its civilian and military jets and to provide services for its
Gulf customers who have already bought 130-seat CN-235 planes.

In addition to the N-250, IPTN is also manufacturing the CN-
235, a smaller version of the N-250, in cooperation with Casa of
Spain. (rid)