N-250 finally flies

Indonesia's 190 million people, with a per capita income of US$885, should feel extremely proud that their first wholly domestically made airplane, once rejected as a futile, wasteful project by detractors and pessimists, did fly after all.

It is not exaggerating to consider yesterday's successful maiden flight of the 70-seat commuter aircraft, the turboprop N- 250, one of the crowning achievements of Indonesia's 50 years as a sovereign nation.

Despite the controversy over the allocating of so many resources for such a capital and technology intensive industry, the N-250 airplane proves Indonesia's capability to master aerospace technology, so far the monopoly of the industrialized countries with per capita incomes of more than $10,000.

We fully share the view of State Minister for Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, that his brainchild -- the Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) aerospace company -- should not be assessed only from its immediate economic benefits. It must also be seen in terms of the training and development of the 16,000 skilled persons working at the company. We fully agree that investments in human resources fuel a continuous generation of value added (through a continuous rise in productivity), while the accumulation of physical assets increases productivity only once.

However, the successful maiden flight is only the beginning of a series of formidable tasks to be faced in the process of convincing international airline companies of the technical and commercial viability of the airplane. The first challenge involves the process of obtaining an airworthiness certificate from the United States Federal Aviation Administration -- a prerequisite for the access by the commercial aircraft to the international market.

The government's decision to establish a joint venture to manufacture the N-250 in Alabama, the United States, could pave the way toward acquiring international certification from the FAA and could help solve the problem of establishing efficient networks of distribution for spare parts. One of the biggest complaints of the buyers of the CN-235 aircraft, which was developed jointly by IPTN and Casa of Spain, is the difficulty in getting spare parts.

Certification by FAA is not, however, an automatic guarantee of market success. N-250 has yet to compete with similar aircraft from other countries which, in so far as high-technology and the level of economic development are concerned, are much more advanced than Indonesia. They also are better known in the international market. In light of that, we must admit that Indonesia's image in the international market is still largely that of a supplier of light industrial goods made from imported components or materials.

We also fully realize that technical reliability is only one of the factors which influence the marketing of such big-ticket, high-tech products as airplanes. In fact, given the keen market competition, the support of credit financing with lenient terms counts greatly. That is especially crucial for marketing turboprop airplanes because purchases are expected mostly from buyers in developing countries, where airline companies are not as financially strong as their counterparts in the developed countries.

Therefore, besides rejoicing over the successful maiden flight of N-250, we should now gear up for the next bout of formidable challenges to making the project a complete success. The N-250 can be considered a full success when the volume of its sales exceeds the break-even point of 260 units. In view of the great controversy already caused by the project, a market failure like that suffered by the supersonic Concorde aircraft might make the N-250 aircraft, or even the whole IPTN organization, an embarrassment, or even lead to a resource wastage scandal.