Thai army will procure a new plane worth 1.35 billion baht to replace its old Beechcraft 1900yf aircraft that has been in use for over three decades and posed spare part problems.
The Army Transportation Department reportedly planned earlier to spend 1,348.5 million baht from its fiscal 2020 on a medium-sized airplane for general use.
However, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused the department to postpone the procurement to the 2021 fiscal year. The procurement project is necessary to replace its Beechcraft 1900yf for the transportation of commanders and very important persons. The old turboprop Beechcraft 1900yf plane has been used for over three decades and will be decommissioned soon.
The manufacturer of Beechcraft planes earlier stated that it would stop its production line and there would not be new spare parts for the old plane.
The department planned to order a new plane from Gulfstream Aerospace that produces Gulfstream G500 planes which are of the same size with the old plane. The new jet is similar to Embraer aircraft of the army and its procurement process will take about a year.
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