Great! Indonesian-made Aircraft Return to the Air in Thailand

One more, a plane made by PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI), NC 212i airs in the Thai sky. At exactly 17:00 on the afternoon of November 11, 2019 aircraft with the registration number AX-2125 landed safely at Air Base Nakhon Sawan, welcomed by the Indonesian Ambassador to Thailand, Ahmad Rusdi and the Team from the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok and the PTDI Team and the Team from Thailand.

Today the plane weighing around 7 tons was officially handed over by a representative from PTDI who is also the Head of the Program Planning and Management Sub Directorate, Iwan Krisnanto.

Meanwhile, in the final acceptance activity, Thailand was represented by the Director General at the Department of the Rain-Making and Agricultural Aviation, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) Thailand, DR. Dr. Surasri Kidtimonton.

The handover procession was carried out with a flight test for 2 hours to see the performance of the aircraft in condition 2 engines were turned on, and then in the condition of one engine turned off, and to test the performance of the aircraft when landing. The flight test activities were carried out jointly between the Indonesian Pilot Captain and the Thai Pilot Captain.

On this occasion, the Indonesian Ambassador who witnessed the ceremonial handover of the plane expressed his pride because the aircraft produced by the nation's children received good reception from the Thai side.

"The handover of PT DI aircraft to the Thai side feels special because it coincides with the momentum of the Heroes' Day", said Indonesian Ambassador Ahmad Rusdi.

The Indonesian Ambassador also added that in the future Thailand still plans to order more similar aircraft from PT DI. He also stressed that Indonesia's opportunity to expand in the strategic industrial sector in Thailand is huge.

For this reason, the Indonesian Ambassador hopes that support from the Central Government for the efforts to expand companies or SOEs to Thailand will continue to be increased.

Previously, on October 24, 2019 aircraft made by PT DI NC 212i, with Registration Number AX-2124, also landed safely at Air Base Nakhon Sawan, Thailand.

Based on information from the PT DI Technician Team, before being handed over to the Thai side, the aircraft had been tested by flying time of not less than 20 hours.

On this occasion, the Indonesian Economic Function Coordinator in the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok, Lingga Setiawan who also attended stressed that the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok always supported the efforts of the Indonesian Government to improve export performance through strengthening cooperation in the strategic industrial sector.

Indonesia and Thailand at official meetings reached an agreement to encourage increased cooperation in the strategic industrial sector. For this reason, he continued, products produced by SOEs in Indonesia, such as PT DI, PT INKA, PT PAL, and PT PINDAD, need to continue to be supported by marketing abroad.
In the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok, between 1978 and 2016, Thailand bought 8 (eight) aircraft made by PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI), namely 5 (five) NC212 units for agricultural purposes (Department of Royal Rainmaking), and 2 (two) CN235 units -200 and 1 (one) unit CN235-200M (Royal Thai Police) for military transportation.

With the addition of two aircraft in 2019, even 10 aircraft made by PTDI were purchased by Thailand.

NC212i aircraft is the latest generation multipurpose aircraft from NC212 with a capacity of 28 passengers, has a ramp door, cabin which is quite spacious in its class, navigation system and communication that is more modern.

PTDI has successfully produced as many as 115 units of NC212 aircraft for domestic and abroad, from a total of 586 units of NC212 series population in the world.

Source: Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs