Plane price excessive

Plane price excessive

JAKARTA (JP): Merpati Nusantara Airlines, a subsidiary of flag
carrier Garuda Indonesia, has refused to procure 12 new Fokker F-
100 airplanes at US$32 million each because the price is regarded
as excessive.

Merpati's president, Ridwan Fatarudin, said here yesterday the
company will not buy the airplanes at US$32 million per unit
because their proper price is only $28 million each.

"We are negotiating with Fokker's agent here and expect to
procure the airplanes at $28 million each." Ridwan said.

The 12 airplanes were originally ordered by Garuda but the
order was then transferred to Merpati.

Meanwhile, an official at the Ministry of Transportation was
quoted by Antara as saying yesterday that the government has
succeeded in lowering the price to $28 million per unit.(02)