Flight International online news 11:00GMT: Indonesian flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia has agreed to acquire ten Boeing 787-8 aircraft and reaffirmed its long-awaited intention to take 18 Boeing 737-800s under a fleet-renewal initiative.
The airline has valued the acquisition at $2 billion.
While details of the agreement are still sketchy, the carrier says the 787s will become part of its fleet in 2011 and 2013.
It says: “The introduction of the Boeing 787-8 is a tangible step in our efforts to regenerate our future fleet and reflects the airline’s understanding of the need for a more modern fleet to achieve an enhanced performance.”
Garuda adds that the signing of the agreement is a “further elaboration” of a previous contract between the two companies for Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.
This 777-200ER order has also been long-deferred and it remains unclear whether Garuda still intends to take the jets.
Garuda’s present long-haul fleet comprises Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A330 aircraft, while an assortment of Boeing 737 types make up its extensive narrowbody fleet.
The airline has not specifically indicated when delivery of the 737-800s would finally begin. But it says it is planning to begin operating three 737-800s from early 2006 in order to “fulfil the need for a more modern fleet, particularly of narrowbody aircraft”.
These 737-800s, it says, will partly replace leased 737-400s.
DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW/LONDON
Source: Flight International
