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PT DIRGANTARA INDONESIA [ INTERVIEW PT DIRGANTARA INDONESIA ]
(PTDI) HAS FOLLOWED A BUMPY
ROAD TO SUCCESS AND IS NOW
ON THE EXPANSION PATH

Yulian Ardiansyah and Atul Chandra Now, more than a decade later, PTDI has repositioned itself as
one of the most prominent aircraft manufacturers in Asia. Not only
does it still continue producing the CN-235 aircraft - the compa-
Indonesian state-owned enterprise, PT
Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) or Indonesian ny’s joint project with CASA of Spain in the 1980’s - it has also
Aerospace, is the largest of its kind in the become the sole manufacturing point of the CASA/Airbus C-212
Southeast Asia region. The company has been (with Indonesian designation of “NC-212”). The European multina-
designing, manufacturing, and marketing dif- tional defense and aerospace company transferred its production
ferent aircraft types since its establishment in to PTDI in 2013.
1976.
Tapping the Transport Aircraft Market
The company has seen its share of ups and “We have delivered more than 40 CN-235, mostly to our domestic
downs, especially after the 1997 Asian financial market here in Indonesia, but also to Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand,”
crisis that almost made the company go bank- said Batara Silaban, PTDI Director of Production in an exclusive
rupt. The crisis also forced PTDI to cancel the interview during the recent Singapore Airshow 2022. “We have
development of the N-250 aircraft, which was also delivered more than 100 NC-212 both domestically and to
its first major effort to compete in the 60-68 the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam,” he answered when asked
seat turboprop regional airliner. However, even about PTDI’s market share and opportunities in the Southeast Asia
after the company’s reorganization and name (SEA) region. “We might sell six more aircraft to our neighbor, the
change from IPTN (Industri Pesawat Terbang Philippines. We also have seen interest from several other countries
Nusantara) to PTDI in the year 2000, its finan- for the acquisition of 16 CN-235s and 21 NC-212i over the next 3-4
cial condition was still in the red. This was later years,” he added.
solved in 2011 after the Indonesian government
injected the company with funds to keep it On the company’s prospects outside the Southeast Asia region,
afloat. Silaban said: “We have customers like Senegal in Africa. They are
our loyal customers and we still keep discussing new possibilities.”
Senegal ordered two CN-235 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) from
PTDI in 2018, one of which was delivered last year. “We also have
delivered four aircraft to the UAE in the Middle East.”
While PTDI’s marketing successes are still quite modest compared
to other major aerospace companies, the company is already on
its way to expand its aircraft production capacity. The expansion
is intended not only to handle the increase in domestic orders for
its aircraft – the company I received an order for 10 CN-235 from
the Indonesian Ministry of Defense in February this year - but also
to support its expansion into the international market.
“Our upgrading process on the facilities is currently ongoing. We
now have the capacity to produce four NC-212i per year, and we
are upgrading to have the capacity to produce up to eleven air-

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