Garuda Indonesia to purchase 25 Boeing 737-800s

Garuda Indonesia has planned to buy 25 Boeing 737-800 jets, valued more than one billion U.S. dollars, chief executive of the airline Emirsyah Satar said on Monday.

The chief of the airline told a press conference that the planes, which price of each ranged from 35 to 40 millions U.S. dollars, will first arrive in 2009.

"Almost every month in the period of 2009 to 2012, the new planes of B-737NG ordered by Garuda will arrive one by one," Satar said.

Earlier this month, a Garuda plane-200 with 140 board overshot the runway in Yogyakarta province and burst into flames, killing 21 people including five Australians.

Indonesia's aviation safety has drawn criticism recently after a string of crashes that claimed hundreds of lives.

In January, a budget airline of Adam Air with 102 people on board disappeared on the waters of central Indonesia.

None of the 54 airlines auditted in the country have fully meet the standard of air safety, including Garuda which posted the second out of three ratings of safety.

Source: Xinhua