JAKARTA: A Danish leasing company has ordered 35 ATR turboprop planes to lease to Indonesian flag carrier Garuda, in deal worth more than $840 million, the European plane maker said on Tuesday.
The move is the latest expansion in Indonesia's booming aviation sector, as the country's middle class grows rapidly and more people are able to afford air transport to get around the sprawling archipelago.
The deal agreed between ATR, Garuda and leasing company Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) includes firm orders for 25 ATR 72-600s and options for a further 10, ATR said.
Garuda said it will begin taking delivery of the aircraft in November, and will start operating them in December.
Garuda chief executive Emirsyah Satar said the 70-seater aircraft "stand out as one of the best choices for short-haul flights and operations between the various islands of Indonesia".
ATR, a joint venture between aerospace giant EADS and the Italian company Finmeccanica, said the order "confirms (its) success in the countries of Southeast Asia".
Indonesia, where the aviation sector is experiencing passenger growth of around 20 percent every year, has become a huge market for planemakers.
But the country has one of Asia's worst aviation safety records, with analysts warning that there are not enough trained pilots to keep up with rapid expansion in the sector.
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