Garuda completes Pakistani jet modification

Garuda completes Pakistani jet modification

JAKARTA (JP): Garuda Maintenance Facility, the national flag
carrier Garuda Indonesia's aircraft maintenance unit, has
completed modifying three parts of a Pakistan International
Airlines (PIA) Boeing B-747-200 jet.

In a simple ceremony at the Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF)
center at Cengkareng, West Jakarta, Saturday, Garuda director of
finance Achmad Subianto presented the jet maintenance documents
to PIA manager for engineering structure repair and
modifications, Riaz A. Sheikh.

"GMF has successfully and on time completed the modification
of three major parts of the jet, including wing pylon/strut,
fuselage station and front-spare," Riaz said.

He said GMF had completed 14 service bulletins of the jet on
schedule between Jan. 13 and Feb 14.

PIA wanted GMF to maintain the jet because of Garuda's
prestige and the competitive price, he said.

"This is the first time GMF and PIA have cooperated. The
modification is very complicated and it's a very challenging job
for GMF to restore the parts into the original power," he said.

GMF chief Sunarko Kuntjoro said PIA paid US$350,000 for the
service, less than the $500,000 other jet maintenance facilities
in Asia usually charge.

He said based on a contract signed last November GMF would
maintain four PIA jets by the end of this year.

PIA flies to Jakarta from Karachi via Singapore twice a week
with Airbus A-310 aircraft.

PIA's B-747-200 jet maintenance project took 12,000 hours over
30 days.

Boeing Co, the jet's manufacturer, requires airlines operating
B-747 series planes to modify the engine pylons.

In the 24-year history of the 747 fleet there have been many
reported cases of cracks or corrosion occurring in the strut to
wing attachment components. Undetected cracks can lead to loss of
load path which could result in engine and strut separation.
Strut structural elements were involved in the recent China
Airlines, El Al and Evergreen accidents.

Kuntjoro said GMF was experienced in maintaining and modifying
B-747s because Garuda operated several of them.

Besides servicing domestic airlines, GMF, which opened in
1991, has several overseas customers including Malaysian Air
System for A-300 checking, Silk Air of Singapore and Tower Air of
the United States for line maintenance.

The 115-hectare GMF site near Soekarno-Hatta airport has
received many certificates of approval, including from the
Indonesian Air Force and the Directorate General of Air
Transportation, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, the
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the Thai Department of
Aviation.

Kuntjoro said GMF expected Rp 80 billion in revenue this year,
up from Rp 60 billion last year.

Garuda suffers from long-standing financial problems and
relies on its subsidiaries' business and strategic business units
like GMF, Education and Training Center, PT Aerowisata, a hotel,
catering and transportation operator and PT Abacus Indonesia, a
reservation service joint venture company.

Last year the airline made a Rp 87.44 billion loss but Garuda
recorded Rp 124.65 billion profit because the company sold unused
jet spare-parts and other assets worth Rp 212.09 billion. The
airline, which plans to go public next year, suffered a Rp 342.79
billion loss in 1995. (icn)