National flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia is expecting the leasing of French-Italian ATR 72-600 – which will arrive this fourth quarter – will not put a burden on the company’s finance.

Garuda said that it signed on Sept. 6 an aircraft lease agreement with the manufacturer of the planes, Avions de Transport Regional GIE, as well as an aircraft lease term and commitment letter with leasing and financing company Nordic Aviation Capital A/S.

Under the agreements, Garuda will lease 25 units of ATR 72-600, of which two units will arrive this November, Garuda corporate secretary, Pujobroto, said on Wednesday.

The company previously planned to purchase the twin engine turboprop aircraft. However, it then decided to lease them in attempt to reduce financial burden.

“Garuda is now using operating lease mechanisms to increase its fleet, in which the planes are owned by the lessor. Therefore, the spending to purchase the planes won’t weigh down Garuda. We will only need to pay a monthly leasing fee,” president director, Emirsyah Satar, said.

The price of an ATR 72-600 is around US$19 million, according to a Garuda financial report from June this year. Under a leasing agreement, Garuda will only spend $185,000 per month per aircraft, Pujobroto said.

“The leasing fee will be financed by our earnings from operating the planes,” Pujobroto said, adding that the ATR 72-600 would serve short-haul and remote routes.

Besides ATR 72-600, Garuda already has several Next Gen Canadian Bombardier CRJ 1000 units, which also serve short-range routes. The company also signed an order for 18 more Bombardier planes last year.