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)