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.