IPTN delivers two aircraft to Thailand

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned aircraft manufacturer IPTN will hand over on Monday two CN-235-220 aircraft ordered by Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.

IPTN assistant commercial director Heru Santosa said the two airplanes, which were ordered by the Thai government in a barter deal worth US$28.6 million with the Indonesian government, departed for the Thai capital of Bangkok on Saturday.

"The aircraft are designed for cloud-seeding with a total capacity of four to five tons. The cabins, however, can be transformed to become transport aircraft for prominent people," he said after witnessing the departure of the aircraft from Hussein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, West Java.

The CN-235-220 airplanes, a modification of the Bandung-based aircraft manufacturer's CN-235 aircraft, have been certified by the United States' Federal Aviation Administration, the European Joint Airworthiness Administration and Indonesia's Directorate General of Air Transportation, he said.

Heru said the CN-235-220 aircraft, the first time the CN-235 have been modified to be used for cloud-seeding, would be handed over by IPTN president S. Paramajuda.

The Thai government agreed in 1996 to take the two aircraft in exchange for 110,000 tons of rice. In 1980, Thailand ordered NC- 212 aircraft from IPTN for cloud-seeding.

Heru said there was a delay in the delivery of the two CN-235- 220s, attributing the postponement to the late delivery of equipment and components for the aircraft, mainly from American suppliers.

"It was because the Letter of Credit (LC) opened for the purchase of the materials was not appreciated and not considered valid by the suppliers due to the worsening economic crisis here. So we had to open a new LC and find other banks," he said.

"All letters of credit issued by local banks to settle the payment of the imports were rejected. The suppliers wanted us to open LCs at more credible banks or pay in cash," he said.

Many Indonesian banks suffer liquidity problems due to the economic crisis and have lost credibility due to their deteriorating financial conditions. Many overseas banks reject LCs from local banks.

There are at least 7,700 vendors, mostly American companies, currently supplying aircraft components and equipment to IPTN, he said.

IPTN has the capacity to produce 12 CN-235 aircraft a year, he said.

However, due to the economic crisis the company was only able to produce eight units in 1998, he added.

IPTN spokesman MT Satoto said the aircraft manufacturer would deliver three CN-235 airplanes to Brunei Darussalam and six military versions of the CN-235 to the Malaysian Air Force this year.

The Malaysian Air Force ordered the six aircraft in exchange for an unspecified number of Malaysian manufactured Proton Saga cars, which are used as taxis in Jakarta, he said. (43/cst)