TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Aceh orders four N-219 airplanes to serve remote areas
The planes will transport passengers and provide public services to remote areas in the Aceh province.
Change Size
An N-219 airplane, designed by PT Dirgantara Indonesia, sits at an assembly facility. The Aceh provincial government has ordered four N-219 airplanes to serve the province's remote areas. (kompas.com/Reska K. Nistanto)
T
he Aceh government will purchase four N-219 airplanes from state aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) to provide better access to the province’s remote areas.
The acting governor of Aceh province, Nova Iriansyah, said in Bandung on Monday that the 19-seat N-219 airplanes were needed to transport passengers and provide public services to remote areas.
A number of airlines once served the province’s regencies, but they later stopped due to a lack of passengers, Nova said following the signing of the purchase agreement at the DI office.
Some areas are currently only accessible by land, and it can take 16 hours to reach them. “And that's not including areas separated by water, which require boats,” Nova said.
Five out of seven airstrips in Aceh are currently operational, but airlines have flights to them only once or twice a week. They consider flights to the areas commercially unviable, Nova said.
"There are only one or two flights a week to each airstrip. Most airlines prefer to fly to Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, to provide a connecting flight," said Nova.
The four N-219 airplanes, which cost US$6 million each, will be delivered to the Aceh government between 2021 and 2022. The regional government plans to designate the four planes for passenger, cargo and medical services.
