Export of Aircraft
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) announced on September 10 that it will export its supersonic aircraft T-5Oi to Indonesia through a ferry flight.
KAI signed a contract worth US$40 million to export 16 T-50 supersonic aircrafts to Indonesia in 2011, and has been developing the T-50i customized to Indonesian requirements. In July, the T-50i proved its flight safety through form authentication. These aircraft will be exported to Indonesia by December, all through ferry flights 2 aircraft at a time.
The T-50i is the first domestic aircraft to be exported. Through this, Korea has become the 6th supersonic aircraft exporting country, following the US, Russia, England, France, and Sweden. In addition, Korea has decided to hand the product over to Indonesia after a ferry flight of 7 hours, 5,600km, regardless of weather or any other variables. If it succeeds, it will become a great chance for Korea to prove its excellence of domestic aircraft to the world.
A KAI representative explained, “The economic impact that the T-50i export to Indonesia will bring is about the same as the impact of exporting 16K mid-size vehicles. It creates US$650 million in production and 7,700 new jobs.”