EU to slap ban on all RI airlines

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 06/29/2007 10:23 AM  |  Business

Andi Haswidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The European Commission will ban all 51 Indonesian airlines from flying to the region starting next week after the commission's air safety experts deemed them unsafe.

The experts' decision, which includes national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, comes after four recent crashes in the Asian archipelago and the Indonesian authorities' failure to provide adequate safety assurances, an EU official said.

""Once more, the EU blacklist will prove to be an essential tool not only to prevent unsafe airlines from flying to Europe and to inform passengers traveling worldwide, but also to make sure that airlines and civil aviation authorities take appropriate actions to improve safety,"" the commission vice president in charge of transport, Jacques Barrot, said as quoted by Associated Press.

The ban will become official when the commission endorses the experts' recommendation to ban Indonesian airlines on July 6 by adding them to EU's list of unsafe airlines.

The decision comes as Garuda is considering the reestablishment of its Amsterdam service, which was terminated in 2004 as the airline was losing money at that time, Garuda spokesperson Pudjobroto said.

""The decision does not directly impact on Garuda's services as we have yet to resume flying to Europe. We have a code-sharing deal with Malaysian Airlines to serve the European destinations,"" he told The Jakarta Post.

Despite the fact that no Indonesian airline currently flies to Europe, the ban could have a big impact on European passengers traveling with Indonesian airlines outside Europe.

Other additions to the proposed revised list include Angolan carrier TAAG Angola Airlines and Volare Aviation from Ukraine.

Based on the current list, the EU has banned a total of 91 airlines, including 74 from Africa.

Responding to the commission's decision, the Transportation Ministry said that the ban was the result of a communications failure.

""The commission hasn't had the chance to consider our latest data. Our airlines are getting better now,"" Director General of Air Transportation Budi Mulyawan Suyitno told the Post.

Budi said that the Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA) went to talk to the council in Brussels this week but failed to secure a chance to directly address the commission's assembly meeting on June 25, just before the Transportation Ministry in Jakarta announced the results of its second Indonesian airline safety survey.

The June survey revealed that Garuda, which was placed in category II in the last survey, had moved up to category I, which means that it fully complies with minimum air transportation safety requirements with a score of between 162 and 200 under standards adapted from the ICAO.

""In essence, there is no direct impact on us as we don't have any airline flying to Europe. However, we will wait for the next assembly meeting in October to provide them with an update on the state of our airlines so that there won't be any misconceptions,"" Budi said.

He stressed that Indonesia remained committed to implementing its ""road map to safety, security and services through compliance."" Next week, Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal is scheduled to sign the Declaration of Safety Commitment together with the president of the International Civil Aviation Organization's council in Bali during the Bali Aviation Safety Summit.

""In future, we will need to improve our communications with the outside world, especially with the EU, ICAO, FAA and other aviation authorities,"" Budi said.

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