Merpati's CN-235s may fly again
Merpati's CN-235s may fly again
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After having been grounded since 1999, locally-assembled CN-
235 fixed-wing aircraft belonging to PT Merpati Nusantara Airline
will likely fly again once the company gets the finances to
operate them, the airline said on Tuesday.
Merpati president Wahyu Hidayat told a media conference that
the airline currently has 11 CN-235 aircraft; all of which are
grounded.
He said seven of the 11 grounded aircraft would likely be used
to serve flights between Halim Perdanakusumah, Jakarta-Bandung
and Halim, Jakarta-Tanjung Karang, Lampung routes which the
company abandoned in 1999.
"We will not inject fresh money because we have the aircraft
and aircrew. I will let PT Dirgantara Indonesia market it," Wahyu
said, referring to Bandung-based state aircraft manufacturer.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding on
Tuesday to utilize the grounded aircraft.
According to Wahyu, Merpati would provide the aircraft, the
aircrew and some aircraft components, while Dirgantara would
provide the maintenance services and find partners to operate the
aircraft.
Dirgantara commercial vice president Budi Sulaksono said the
company was sounding out cooperation possibilities with investors
in the form of revenue sharing.
He said Dirgantara would approach a number of provincial
administrations such as North Sumatra, South Sumatra and Irian
Jaya or Papua to become investors to operate the aircraft and
serve their areas.
He also did not rule out cooperation with other airlines.
In addition to the 11 grounded aircraft, Dirgantara has
another three idle CN-235s which it also received from Merpati as
settlement of the latter's debt worth US$6 million.
As part of their arrangement, Dirgantara and Merpati agreed to
form a joint team to study all possibilities to utilize the
aircraft.
If the team finds an investor, Merpati plans to reopen the
Halim-Bandung and Halim-Tanjung Karang routes using the idle CN-
235s.
Previously there were nine flights a day -- using CN-235 --
for the Halim-Bandung route while the Halim-Tanjung Karang route
had five flights a day. Merpati closed the routes in late 1999
after a drop in the load factor following the crisis.
Merpati is 93.5 percent owned by the government and 6.5
percent owned by national flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia.