An agreement to revive the relationship between Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) and EADS Casa could be signed as early as the end of this month. EADS Casa has agreed to move its C-212-400 assembly line to IAe’s Bandung facility, according to IAe’s new president director Nuril Faid.
The previous co-operation agreement between the two parties has languished in recent years, with both manufacturers competing against each other for sales in Asia.
A new agreement would make the C-212-400 light turboprop transport more cost-competitive by moving assembly from Spain to Indonesia. Faid says it would assign responsibility for Asian sales of the type to IAe, with EADS Casa overseeing sales for the rest of the world.
Both companies also currently produce, and compete against each other, for sales of the larger CN-235, which they co-developed. However, any similar new arrangement on assigning areas of sales responsibility for the latter type would only be discussed later.
Such an agreement would be a welcome boost for IAe, whose production rates have fallen away in recent years. It stopped selling the NC-212 in 2003 and is completing the final three aircraft in its inventory for the Indonesian navy. Production of the CN-235 has also been at a low level, although the company reported a Thai order for 10 CN-235s, worth around $200 million, at the end of last year.
A new agreement with EADS Casa could also see subcontracting work moving eastward from other EADS subsidiaries.
Source: Flight Daily News
