Susi Air to buy 16 aircraft worth US$100 million

JAKARTA. One of the country’s strong players in pioneering flights, PT Asi Pudjiastuti Aviation (Susi Air), intends to buy 16 aircraft worth US$100 million this year, an executive in Jakarta said on Friday.

President director Susi Pdjiastuti said that the aircraft consists of Cessna C208B Grand Caravan and Pilatus PC-6 Porter single turboprop airplanes for short-haul pioneer routes and Piaggio P180 Avanti twin turboprops for charter and VIP flights.

“This is part of our plan to increase our revenue by 20 percent throughout this year,” she said.

She said that last year, the company’s revenue reached up to Rp 200 billion ($2.36 million) and transported 40,000 passengers.

“This year, we are expecting to transport 50,000 passengers,” she said.

She was optimistic to reach the target because Susi Air has secured more than 15 routes in Aceh, Ketapang in West Kalimantan, Samarinda in East Kalimantan and Manokwari in West Papua, with Rp 44 billion in financial support from the government.

Each year, the government allocates funds to help develop remote areas by providing subsidies to operators to fly to these remote towns. (nfo/TheJakartaPost)