Garuda Indonesia seeking loans to buy 25 Boeing planes

Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia needs a fund of 9 trillion rupiah (about 990.6 million U.S. dollars) to buy 25 brand new Boeing 737-800s in the company's efforts to modernize its aging fleets, local press said Monday.

Garuda said the deliveries were expected in 2009-2012 to replace its 737 series which had attained the age of eight to 10 years, reported leading economic daily Bisnis Indonesia.

"If a plane is priced between 35 million and 40 million dollars, then we need...a fund of up to 9 trillion rupiah," Garuda President Emirsyah Satar was quoted as saying.

Garuda now operates 48 planes of mostly 737 series.

The company has asked Boeing to send first eight new planes in 2009, 10 in 2010, five in 2011 and two in 2012, said the Indonesian language newspaper.

Source:Xinhua