Indonesia considering the purchase of presidential airplane

Indonesia considering the purchase of presidential airplane

NEW YORK (JP): The government is considering the purchase of a
Boeing aircraft to be used as the presidential airplane,
according to a palace official late on Monday.

Head of presidential palace protocol Wahyu Muryadi told
reporters in the presidential entourage to New York that the
purchase would ease the burden faced by national flag carrier PT
Garuda Indonesia, which often had to rearrange its flight
schedules due to presidential trips.

"Boeing has offered a 737-800 airplane, which will cost US$50
million to $60 million," Wahyu said during a flight from Seattle
to New York.

The statement came only hours after President Abdurrahman
Wahid, who left Jakarta on Monday morning for the United Nations-
organized Millennium Summit in New York, met with the chairman of
the world's largest aerospace company, Phil Condit, during a
refueling stop in Seattle.

The 737-800 jetliner is one of the newest offerings from the
Seattle-based company and includes high-tech, vertical winglets
that can extend the jet's flight range and fuel efficiency.

Condit was quoted by Wahyu as saying that if Indonesia was
seriously planning to buy the plane, a written statement had to
be sent immediately to Boeing as the plane was also high on the
list of other countries.

"In foreign countries, it is common that a president has his
own presidential plane, like the U.S. president, who travels on
Air Force One," he said.

The presidential entourage to New York includes Minister of
Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab, two legislators from the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Sophan Sophiaan
and R.K. Sembiring Meliala, and political observer Arbi Sanit.

On Tuesday, Abdurrahman was scheduled to meet Hungarian-born
U.S. businessman George Soros, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio
Guterres, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Nigerian
President Olusegun Obasanjo. (prb)