IPTN to manufacture 3 N-250 aircraft weekly
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)