Habibie to Launch R-80 Airplane in 2016
30 September 2013 13:46 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former President B.J. Habibie said that the airplane produced by his company, PT Regio Aviasi Industri, will be finished in 2016. The Indonesian-made airplane, Habibie said, is named R-80.
According to Habibie, this airplane is produced by 15 airplane experts with 20-year experience who come from PT Dirgantara Indonesia. Some of them had also worked for Boeing and Airbus companies in the past.
Habibie stated that this airplane is a development from the previous N-250 airplane which was introduced in 1997 and was capable of flying with distance not more than 600 kilometers.
"There is already an order," B.J. Habibie said on Sunday, September 29, 2013. Habibie said that he was motivated to produce R-80 plane after knowing that from 250 million Indonesians, only 71 million people who use airplane as transportation.
Previously, NAM Air, subsidiary of Sriwijaya air, which would begin operation in 2013, has ordered the R-80 airplanes. NAM Air President Director, Jefferson Jauwena, said that he believes in R-80's quality. He reflected on the N-250 produced by PT Dirgantara Indonesia a decade ago, which proved to have a good quality.
RUMBADI DALLE