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)