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Merpati to Buy $80m Worth of Dirgantara Planes
Faisal Maliki Baskoro | July 05, 2011

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DrDez
2:56pm Jul 10, 2011

TO PureB - reference you comments re pumping cash into a dead horse (Dirgantara) and your point that they had just won an order from Merpati... I guess the $468m debt here just reinforces the arguement about state owned industry... Combined these two companies require cash injections (just to survive) of about $800 million - a figure probably that is half of what it really is - I say to you again this is illogical and bad business and bad for the country


Darwinista
1:17pm Jul 10, 2011

Finding ways to finance this deal with another loss-making state enterprise may be easier then buying from a cash demanding foreign enterprise hey?

Serigala-Berbulu-Domba
10:27am Jul 10, 2011

Announcing deliveries of 19 seat aircraft in 3 to 4 years time, given the issues facing Merpati here and now, doesn't instill one with a great deal of confidence that Merpati is on top of its game.


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Merpati Nusantara Airlines has announced plans to buy planes worth $80 million to expand flights and boost business as it struggles to pay its massive debt.

Merpati president director Sardjono Johny Tjitrokusumo said on Tuesday that the N-219 turboprop planes from state aircraft maker Dirgantara Indonesia were expected to be delivered between 2014 and 2015 and that they would help expand routes.

But Johny said the state-owned carrier, strapped with debts worth about Rp 4 trillion ($468 million), would finance the purchase without government loans at favorable rates.

“We will find a way to finance this order,” Johny said, without giving further details.

He also did not provide data on route plans for the new fleet, only saying that the 19-seat aircraft would help Merpati’s operations as a low-cost alternative to flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

State Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar had called on Merpati and Dirgantara — which also had debts of Rp 1.1 trillion — to cooperate in order to improve their performance.

The company underwent debt restructuring from 2008 to last year with the help of state asset management firm PPA. Last year, Merpati’s obligations stood at Rp 3.14 trillion.

Of its Rp 4 trillion debt, more than half is owed to the state, which loaned it funds to purchase 15 MA-60 planes from Chinese manufacturer Xi’an Aircraft Industry in 2006.

In 2008, the deal came under scrutiny over charges that Merpati officials overpaid for the planes in return for kickbacks.

Merpati also has unpaid loans with state oil and gas firm Pertamina as well as airport operators Angkasa Pura I and II.

Merpati’s fleet includes Boeing 737s, Fokker 100s, Twin Otters, Cassa C-212s and MA-60s, according to its Web site.

Merpati serves the country’s less-developed east. Last year, it served more than 25 domestic destinations, with hubs in Jakarta, Denpasar and Surabaya, as well as international flights to East Timor, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.