Merpati Nusantara Airlines to buy and lease more jets

JAKARTA (JP): As part of its modernization plan, Merpati Nusantara Airlines, a subsidiary of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, will buy and lease a number of new and aging jets, including Fokker-100 and Boeing 737-200 aircraft.

"We focus more on operating F-100 and B-737 jets," Merpati's director of operation, Amin Kahar, told reporters after witnessing the arrival of a new F-100 aircraft for Merpati at the Soekarno-Hatta airport.

He said his company's fleet currently comprises of 85 aircraft, including 31 jets. The number of its jets will increase to 34 by the end of next year.

The company's other aircraft include four F-100s, six DC-9s, 22 F-28s, 13 F-27s, 14 CN-235s, five advanced turbo propellers, 11 Cassa-212s and 10 Twin Otters.

The company has ordered a number of N-250 turbo-prop commuter planes manufactured by the Bandung-based aircraft producer PT IPTN.

Starting tomorrow, the new F-100 aircraft will serve routes from Jakarta to Palembang (South Sumatra), Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan) and Padang (West Sumatra) and vise versa.

Amin also said that Merpati will receive two more F-100s later this month.

Because the company will concentrate on F-100s and B-737-200s, it will return six DC-9s to Garuda next March.

Negotiations

"Merpati will get two used B-737-200s later this month and in January," he said. "The company is also negotiating with a European company to lease two more B-737s."

The government has finalized the procurement of 10 B-737-200s worth about US$88 million, which will be resold to Merpati, Bouraq, Mandala and Sempati through PT Pann Multi Finance.

Amin, refusing to disclose any financial matters, said that his company will operate a total of 10 B-737s in the coming years.

The company, which has suffered long-time financial problems due to non-profitable domestic routes, has refused acceptance of 12 new F-100 airplanes at $32 million each as the price is regarded excessive. The 12 airplanes were originally ordered by Garuda but the order was then transferred to Merpati.

Merpati, to become independent from Garuda next year, considers the airplane's proper price to be only $28 million each.

The company's finance director, Syarifuddin Iteroedin, said earlier that the government will cancel a plan to buy six F-100 aircraft because there is no agreement on prices.

He said that Merpati will buy just three of the aircraft, which have already been delivered to the company, while three others will be leased at $275,000 per month for 12 years.

The government is currently discussing the cancellation of orders for the other six F-100s with the Netherlands.(icn)