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IATA woos govt on airline safety standards
Adianto P. Simamora , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 03/27/2008 12:08 PM
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) pushed the Indonesian government to make international safety audits compulsory for all local airlines in a bid to improve their safety performance.
The IATA made the call in a meeting Wednesday with Vice President Jusuf Kalla in Jakarta.
"We encourage Vice President Jusuf Kalla to consider mandating IOSA for all commercial airlines in Indonesia...This is a priority measure to make aviation become much safer," IATA Asia Pacific's regional vice president Mike Barclay told reporters after the meeting.
He was referring to the IATA Operation Safety Audit (IOSA), the global standard for airline operations safety which has been implemented by more than 100 airlines worldwide.
"We see mandating the IOSA as a very positive step to improve airline safety in Indonesia," he said.
National carrier Garuda Indonesia is currently the only domestic airline listed in the IATA. There are currently 51 local airlines operating across the archipelago.
Barclay said the IATA was now in discussions with Mandala and Batavia airlines over safety performance and the IOSA audit.
Members of IATA would need to comply with a two-year IOSA audit cycle beginning this year.
Indonesia has long been pressured for its airlines' poor safety record.
The IATA said the accident rate over the past three years was up to 2.1 incidents per million flights in Indonesia, which was high compared to the European nations' 0.75 incidents per million.
Responding to the IATA demand, Kalla ordered Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal to study the IOSA procedure.
"Pak Jusuf Kalla has also asked the IATA to help Indonesia to get the European Union to lift the ban on Indonesian airlines," Jusman said.
The Vice President also called on the EU to withdraw the blanket ban on Indonesian airlines, Jusman said, since it would also affect those from the European Union wishing to travel to Indonesia.
The Vice President said the ban "will not only impact Indonesia but also people from the European Union since they would have more difficulty getting travel insurance to visit Indonesia," Jusman said.
The EU banned all Indonesian airlines from traveling to EU countries as of last year, despite the fact that no Indonesian airlines were serving European routes at the time.
Garuda Indonesia suspended its services to Amsterdam in 2004 but was planning to resume flights to the city before the ban was announced.
The government has been concerned the ban would tarnish international image of the Indonesian air transport sector.
Indonesia was still in intensive discussions with the European Union over the ban, the minister said.
"We are still waiting for the final report from the EU team who would assess Indonesian airline safety," he said.
Experts from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) visited Indonesia in November to audit and verify the condition of the country's airlines.
Following the ban, the Indonesian government has taken several measures to improve the safety standards of local airlines.
The IATA praised the government over its courage to withdraw Adam Air's operating license after a series of accidents including a non-fatal incident at Hang Nadim airport on Batam island early this month.
The National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) recently blamed the January 2007 Adam Air accident off South Sulawesi, which killed 102 people, on pilot errors and problems with navigational equipment.
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