This aircraft was IPTN's first major effort to win the market share of the regional turboprop class of 64–68 seat airliners.

The N-250 was initially described as a propfan commuter plane,[3] but on 12 July 1990, IPTN selected the Allison GMA 2100 turboprop to power the aircraft.

The U.S. assembly site would be run by American Regional Aircraft Industry (AMRAI), in which IPTN would hold a 40-percent stake.

[12] The first assembled prototype, which had a capacity of 50 passengers, was initially rolled out on 10 November 1994 in Bandung during the run-up to the 1994 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which Indonesia was hosting.

Later, IPTN postponed certification indefinitely so that it could recruit a risk-sharing partner to help complete the program.

[19] On 22 February 2018, RAI signed a memorandum of understanding with Leonardo Aerostructures to help fund and complete the development of the R-80.

RAI planned to build six prototypes, with flight testing from 2020 to 2022, and targeted issuance of a type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in 2025.