Too Big, The Garuda Indonesia Plane That Was Rented By Jokowi Turned Out To Have Made The Halim Airport Runway Torn 6 Meters

President Joko Widodo greets before leaving for overseas (Photo: Screenshot of the Presidential Secretariat Youtube)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) today began his visit to three countries, namely Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates to follow a number of important state agendas. During his visit this time, the Head of State did not appear to be using the presidential plane.

The Presidential Secretariat Office confirmed that the President chose to use a chartered Garuda Indonesia Boeing 777-300ER due to a number of considerations, such as longer cruising range and health protocol factors.

In fact, this chartered plane has several advantages. The Boeing 777-300ER is claimed to be the largest twin-engine aircraft in the world.

Vehicles that fall into the wide body category, aka wide body, have a jumbo carrying capacity of up to nearly 500 people with a configuration of 26 business seats and 367 economy seats. Usually, under normal circumstances, Garuda Indonesia sets it up with 8 first class seats, 38 business seats, and 268 economy seats.

But of course if this plane is in chartered status, then the layout and number of seats can be adjusted according to the order. Moreover, if the one who rents it is the President of the Republic of Indonesia.

There is a unique story from this big B77-300ER. In mid-2017, when Garuda Indonesia served the first batch of pilgrims from DKI Jakarta, this plane had damaged the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport runway during takeoff.

From the information from the local airport authority, it was stated that the asphalt of the runway was peeled off as deep as 25 centimeters in a 2x3 meter area. As a result, the next flight had to be postponed due to the repair process.

PT Angkasa Pura II itself said that Halim Perdanakusuma Airport should be able to support large-sized aircraft. However, the after-ground factor is suspected to be the cause of this happening.

Although the plane used by President Jokowi is not necessarily the same plane as the Hajj pilgrims, both are one type of output from the Boeing manufacturer.

Meanwhile, the Boeing 777-300ER has a weight of 167.8 tons with a maximum load of 351.5 tons at take off. This aircraft is predicted to be able to cover a distance of 14,690 kilometers in one single charge.

With dimensions of 73 meters long and 64 meters wide, this aircraft is capable of traveling at speeds of up to 905 km/hour or 0.8 the speed of light (mach).