Indonesian carrier Merpati Nusantara plans to lease eight Boeing 737-800 aircraft and intends to eventually replace its older Boeing 737s.
The eight aircraft will be used to increase its fleet size and the older 737s will be replaced with new aircraft within three years, says vice-president for corporate planning Rona Marginung.
The 737-800s will have a lease term of five years and the first is scheduled to be delivered in November.
Merpati also plans to acquire new Boeing aircraft within five years and has identified the Boeing 737-8 Max, says the airline's official spokesman, Herry Saptanto.
Saptanto, however, did not specify the number of 737-8 Max aircraft it intends to acquire or when it will do so.
In addition to the Boeing aircraft, Merpati plans to acquire 50-seat regional jet aircraft for domestic feeder routes.
The airline did not identify the aircraft type it plans to buy or lease. The Bombardier CRJ200 and Embraer ERJ145 are two popular types in this class. No Indonesian carrier operates either.
Flightglobal's Ascend database show that Merpati operates seven Boeing 737-300s, -400s and -500s, 10 Xian Aircraft MA60 turboprops, one Fokker 100 and one De Havilland Canada DHC6-300 aircraft.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
