IPTN to manufacture 3 N-250 aircraft weekly

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister for Research and Technology B.J. Habibie said yesterday that the aircraft manufacturer PT IPTN will produce three N-250 planes a week and market 50 percent of the aircraft in the United States and Canada.

"In a recent visit to the United States, I learned that the international market will need some 6,700 aircraft within the next 20 years and the United States will be the largest market for aircraft with turbo-prop engines such as N-250," Habibie told reporters shortly before meeting with President Soeharto at the Bina Graha presidential office to report his recent visit to the United States.

The N-250 is the first aircraft wholly designed by Indonesians and will carry 70 passengers.

Habibie, who is also IPTN's president, said that his U.S. visit was in relation to the company's plan to set up an production facility in the United States.

"Several governors in the U.S., including those from Alabama, Arizona, Oregon and Utah, want IPTN to use their areas as the sites for its assembly plant," he said.

The minister said the costs for plant construction in the United States will likely be lower than in Indonesia, where land prices are very inexpensive.

Investment

"The planned assembly plant, which is to be constructed with an investment of US$100 million, will be jointly established with a U.S. company. IPTN plans to control a stake of 51 to 60 percent," he said.

He said the financing sources will include government funds and IPTN's equity.

The feasibility study for the plant will be completed soon and will be reported to Soeharto at the end of this year.

According to Habibie, IPTN will benefit from operating an assembly plant in the United States because deliveries will be quicker and cheaper.

He said the aircraft which will be made in the United States will contain 93.23 percent Indonesian made components, while the remainder will be supplied by American companies.

Habibie said the first N-250 aircraft will be introduced in November at the second leadership meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group in Jakarta.

He said the aircraft is scheduled to fly next April and to become internationally certified in 1997. The plane is expected to enter the American market in December of 1997.(icn)