Indonesia will purchase fifty Boeing aircraft from the United States as part of a new trade deal, which sets a 19% tariff on Indonesian products entering the North American country, down from 32%, the administration of US President Donald Trump announced on July 15.

The White House said that most of Indonesia’s acquisitions would be for B777s, without providing more details on the potential order. His counterpart, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, confirmed the government's commitment to purchasing Boeing aircraft as part of its efforts to strengthen Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta).

“We do need Boeing aircraft to expand Garuda. Garuda is our pride,” he declared during a press conference, as quoted by the Indonesian news agency Antara. The company will continue to acquire aircraft from Airbus as well, he added.

Jakarta-based news outlet Bloomberg Technoz reported on July 9 that Garuda Indonesia was considering adding 79 Boeing aircraft. Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir said that a previous fleet expansion plan had been "dismissed" by the country's Business Competition Supervisory Commission, although he did not clarify exactly which fleet proposal the agency had rejected.

ch-aviation data shows the state-owned carrier operates a fleet of 79 aircraft: five A330-200s, sixteen A330-300s, five A330-900Ns, forty-five B737-800s, and eight B777-300ERs. It has orders for forty-nine B737-9s, four A330-800Ns and nine A330-900Ns. However, the company has said in the past that it will not take the B737 MAX or the A330-800s. Subsidiary Citilink operates a further thirty-nine A320-200s, eight A320-200Ns, one A330-300, and seven ATR72-600s.

Earlier this month, the shareholders of Garuda Indonesia Group approved a restructuring plan that foresees the group’s fleet growing to 120 aircraft and adding up to 100 new routes to Garuda’s and Citilink’ combined network by 2029. Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund Danantara recently injected USD405 million into the group.

ch-aviation reached out to Boeing and Garuda Indonesia for comment but neither was immediately available.