Indonesian Aerospace Firm PTDI Eyes Latin American MRO Market for CASA-Designed Aircraft
SÃO PAULO – Indonesia‘s state-owned aerospace company, PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI), is dispatching a delegation to São Paulo this week to pursue maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) contracts for aircraft originally designed by the now-defunct Spanish planemaker CASA. The business gathering,the Indonesia-Latin america and the Caribbean (INA-LAC) business forum on September 22-23,presents a notable prospect for PTDI to establish a foothold in the international aerospace industry.
PTDI, formerly known as Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN), is focusing on servicing C-212 Aviocar aircraft - a medium cargo plane used by both civilian and military operators – and other CASA models currently in operation across Latin America and the Caribbean.With CASA ceasing maintenance operations after becoming part of Airbus Defense and Space, a gap has emerged that PTDI is positioned to fill.
“Many aircraft produced by CASA, be it the C-212 or other models, are present here [in Latin America and the Caribbean]. However, CASA no longer does the maintenance work, and this is something that PTDI can do,” explained Epiphania Riris Wusananingdyah, a director at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry.
Indonesian diplomatic missions have already arranged meetings between PTDI representatives and air forces from paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, and Suriname, according to Wusananingdyah. “They need those planes. This is an incredibly large opportunity. If we can tap into the [MRO market], it would cement our footprint in the international aerospace industry,” she stated.
While PTDI also manufactures aircraft, including the CN-235 multi-purpose aircraft – co-designed with CASA – the company’s primary focus at the São Paulo forum will be securing MRO contracts. Indonesia currently possesses the largest fleet of C-212s, having assembled the aircraft under license in Bandung between the 1970s and 1980s. Airbus Military transferred C-212 light transport production to Indonesia in 2013. PTDI now produces the NC212i, an upgraded version of the C-212.
CASA, founded in 1923, underwent several transformations before ceasing operations in 1999 and ultimately being integrated into EADS, later becoming part of Airbus Military and then Airbus Defense and Space.