Merpati operates B737-200

Merpati operates B737-200

JAKARTA (JP): Merpati Nusantara Airlines, a subsidiary of
the flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, is scheduled to start
operating tomorrow an aging Boeing 737-200 aircraft which has
been bought from Lufthansa of Germany.

A company spokesman, Benny Achmad, said on Thursday that the
aircraft will serve routes linking Jakarta, Surabaya in East
Java, Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi and Jayapura in Irian Jaya.

"The Boeing 737-200 aircraft will replace DC-9 planes," he
said.

He said his company has actually received two B737-200s
already. The second one will begin operations in January.

In addition to the two B737-200s, Merpati currently operates
92 aircraft including five advanced turbo propellers (ATPs), 11
Cassa-212s, 10 Twin Otters, 13 Fokker-27s, three Fokker-100s, 14
CN-235s, six DC-9s and 28 F-28s.

Indonesia has agreed to procure 10 used Boeing 737-200s from
Lufthansa through the state-owned leasing firm PT Pann Multi
Finance at US$9 million each. Out of the planes, which have been
in operation since a period between 1982 and 1985, three each
will be operated by Merpati and Bouraq and two each by Mandala
and Sempati.

The government has actually approved on the purchase of 32
used planes from Lufthansa but the purchase of 22 is delayed due
to financial reasons.(icn)