Indonesia Exports Military Aircraft CN-235-220 to Nepal

Dhaka, MINA – PT Dirgantara Indonesia exported its aircraft. This time, a CN-235-220 Military Transportation Plane sent to Nepal.

Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh and also Nepal, Rina P Soemarno attended the handover ceremony. The Nepalese Army was represented by Brigadier General Kumar Rayamajhi, Chief of Army Aviation.

For PT Dirgantara Indonesia, this is the first time exporting aircraft to Nepal after the signing of the contract to procure one military transport aircraft unit on June 16, 2017.

“The success of export of CN-235-220 aircraft is proof that the potential of non-traditional market in Nepal, especially for Indonesia’s strategic industry, is huge,” Ambassador Rina said in a press release on Thursday.

The CN-235-220 aircraft that will be used by the Nepalese Army is very special because it has five configurations that can be changed in a short time, namely configurations for transporting troops/paratroopers, configurations for VIPs, configurations for medical evacuation, passenger aircraft, and cargo.

The multipurpose aircraft are also very suitable for use in Nepal which has mountainous geographic contours.

Before the handover of the aircraft to the Nepalese Army, a flight-training process was conducted by Indonesian pilots for Nepalese pilots led by Capt. Esther Gayatri Saleh as a test pilot in command and flight instructor.

The CN-235-220 aircraft, which arrived in Nepal since November 2, 2019, also went through a series of post-delivery inspection processes before being handed over officially to the Nepalese Army.

“The success of the export of CN-235-220 aircraft made by PT Dirgantara Indonesia is expected to encourage other SOEs in Indonesia to be able to glance at the potential of Nepal market,” Ambassador Rina said.

Nepal is currently carrying out developments in various fields including road infrastructure, railways, construction of new international airports, and various infrastructure projects for tourism.

“This is a very good opportunity to be utilized by Indonesian SOEs, because if Indonesia is late entering the Nepal market now, the competition to enter the Nepal market will be more severe in the future,” explained Ambassador Rina. (T/Sj/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)