Countries from Asia, Europe and the Middle East were interested in investing in the R80 aircraft development project.

President Director of PT Regio Aviasi Industri (RAI) Agung Nugroho said that currently the development of aircraft designed by the third President BJ Habibie will get investment financing from Korean company D-Raon Engineering through the Non-State Budget Investment Financing Scheme (PINA).

In the early stages of this partnership, D-Raon will conduct due diligence for three months and once funding is realized, according to plan the R80 development in 2018 will enter the second phase, a full scale development phase.

"Full scale development phase will later construct the current concept, then make detail, make the plane and fly for certification," said Agung, Friday (11/24/2017).

The R80 aircraft project included in one of the National Strategic Projects (PSN) requires a total funding of $1.6 billion.

Of the total funds, this project does not use the State Budget at all, but from the private sector through PINA and funds from within the country in the form of crowd funding which has reached IDR6 billion.

Agung added the R80 aircraft is targeted to fly premiere in 2022. There is a possibility the R80 will be sold to D-Raon if it passes certification.

"It is possible to sell so we will make two certifications, one national certification for sale in the country, another international for international sale," he said.

The advantages of R80 aircraft from its nearest competitor, the ATR-72 used by Garuda Indonesia, among others are more efficient, convenient and economical, especially for a short distance with 400-800 nautical mile mileage or about 1,400-1,500 kilometers.

This aircraft is also considered suitable for inter-island domestic flights in Indonesia and does not require a platform that is too long so it can land at a small airport.

source:www.en.netralnews.com