REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - China's Xian Aircraft Industrial Corporation and Russia's Sukhoi have expressed interest in investing in cash-strapped carrier, Merpati Nusantara Airlines.

"Xian has officially written to the Ministry of State Owned Enterprises to help develop Merpati, and so has Shukoi," Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Dahkan Iskan, said after a meeting of state-owned companies leaders at the head office of state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II on Thursday. 

Dahlan said the two aircraft manufacturers would soon hold a meeting with Merpati to discuss technical cooperation. Merpati has so far operated 13 Chinese-made MA-60 planes. 

"The pattern of the cooperation must be clear. Xian may increase the number of Merpati planes and improve the operation of the planes. Merpati can operate eight of its 13 MA-60 planes and send the rest to the repair workshop," he said.

As the aircraft manufacturers had funding capacity to procure new planes, they have the potential to become Merpatis new partners, he said. At present the state carrier has two joint operation partners, PT Bentang Persada Gemilang and PT Amagedon.

However, the partnership has not worked as a plan to develop Merpatis business to serve umroh (minor hajj) pilgrims fails to secure a seal of approval from the Ministry of Transportation.

Under these circumstances, Merpati opened a chance for new investors to finance its operations as well as to procure new planes, Dahlan said. 

Merpati, which mostly served flights in eastern Indonesias remote areas, suspended its operations on Feb. 1 after it failed to find a solution to its mounting debts of up to 6.7 trillion IDR. The government planned to shutdown Merpati in 2001.

But it dropped the plan and instead injected a fresh fund of 400 billion IDR into the state carrier. Despite the cash injection, the airline company failed to improve its financial conditions.

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