A longtime rival in the regional turboprop market may become an Embraer partner, Indonesia’s PTDI.
The Asian country’s largest aerospace group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Embraer to explore opportunities in aerostructures engineering and production.
“As Indonesia’s premier aerospace manufacturer, PTDI has strong ambitions for Indonesia,” said Gita Amperiawan, President Director of PT Dirgantara Indonesia. “We look forward to developing this collaboration and tapping on Embraer’s 55 years of expertise and knowledge, which will boost our capabilities, particularly in the commercial aviation sector.”
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“We are excited about this growing relationship between Embraer and Indonesia’s PTDI,” said Rodrigo Silva e Souza, Vice President of Marketing for Embraer Commercial Aviation.
Company founded in 1976 has changed its name several times
PTDI is a kind of “Indonesian Embraer,” having been founded in 1976 as PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nurtanio.
Initially, the manufacturer produced the Bo 105 helicopter and the C.212 Aviocar military transport turboprop from Spain’s CASA under license.
The partnership led to the development of the CN.235, a high-wing turboprop with both civil and military applications. The model was a rival to the Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia in the 1980s.
It soon became clear that the CN.235 was a product with better characteristics for military use.
CASA, already part of Airbus, and its Indonesian partner then launched the C295, a larger and more modern variant focused solely on defense.
In the meantime, PT Dirgantara Indonesia planned to launch some civilian turboprops such as the N-219 Nurtanio, of which two prototypes were built, and the larger N-245, based on the C295 but with a T-tail and focused on regional transport.
