Jokowi Is Considered A Spree Related To Repainting The Presidential Plane To Become Red And White

Presidential Aircraft/ Twitter Alvin Lie

JAKARTA - Aviation observer Alvin Lie, highlighted the change in the color of the presidential plane from blue to red and white ahead of the 76th Anniversary of Indonesia. According to him, the repainting of the presidential plane has no urgency. He regretted the Jokowi government's move because it was considered insensitive to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In fact, he accused the repainting of being a waste of money. "Today it's still a spree to change the color of the presidential plane," wrote Alvin on his personal Twitter account quoted on Tuesday, August 3. Alvin predicts that the fantastic cost of repainting the presidential plane is estimated. cost up to 100 thousand US dollars.

"The cost of repainting an aircraft equivalent to a B737-800 ranges from USD 100 thousand to 150 thousand. (If translated) it is around IDR 1.4 billion to IDR 2.1 billion," he said. Alvin Lie explained that there are two methods of repainting the B737 aircraft. -800 civil aviation. That is, by sanding and stripping.

"Sanding is done by sanding the old paint until it loses its color, only the basic primer is left and then it is painted with new colors and patterns," he explained.

Meanwhile, stripping is done by removing the old paint completely to the skin of the plane or bare metal, then repainting it.

"What is commonly done is the sanding method. The cost is around 100 thousand US dollars per plane," explained Alvin Lie.

The former member of the Indonesian Ombudsman assessed that repainting and changing the color of the aircraft was also not an urgent need. Moreover, the presidential plane is only seven years old and is rarely used.

"Good maintenance, the appearance is still decent. There is no urgency to repaint or change colors," concluded Alvin. Previously, the sighting of the new plane was uploaded to the Instagram account @adhimas_aviation with the caption "New Livery For A-001! A-001 Blasting Out From CGK Bound To Pelabuhan Ratu For Test Fight”.

The caption in the photo also says Indonesian Government A-001 Boeing 737-8U3 (BBJ2).

Meanwhile, Head of the Presidential Secretariat (Kasetpres) Heru Budi Hartono confirmed that the presidential plane had previously been painted white and blue.

"It's true, the Indonesian Presidential Aircraft-1 or BBJ 2 aircraft have been repainted. This year, maintenance and painting with Red and White nuances has been carried out as previously planned," Heru told reporters.