Merpati to lease Garuda planes

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned airline PT Merpati Nusantara plans to lease F-28 aircraft owned by flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia in order to overcome an aircraft shortage when it begins servicing new domestic routes, a senior executive said.

"Merpati will propose it (the plan) to Garuda, but we don't know whether or not they will agree," Merpati finance director Budiman was quoted by Antara as saying.

He said the company was willing to offer Garuda a revenue sharing scheme in return for the aircraft.

The plan was in response to Garuda's decision to modernize its fleet in March this year. Garuda's five F-28s will be replaced with Boeing 737-300 aircraft.

Merpati currently owns three Fokker F-100, 10 Fokker F-28, seven Fokker F-27, five Boeing 737-200, six DHC Twin-Otter and several Cassa 212. (tnt)