RI minister says EU eager to lift airlines ban

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 08/02/2007 12:24 PM

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Manila

European Union (EU) Commissioner for External Relations and Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner has told her Indonesian counterpart, Hassan Wirayuda, that the EU intends to lift as soon as possible its ban on Indonesian airlines flying to Europe.

""I want to underline the strong commitment from me to support your government to solve the problem in a spirit of the mutual trust which has been developed in recent years,"" Hassan read the letter sent to him by Ferrero-Waldner before meeting Wednesday with EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Javier Solana in Manila.

After the meeting, Hassan said Solana had expressed a similar desire to solve the problem.

""I can say that it will probably be solved in October,"" he said.

Hassan said he had earlier expressed his disappointment over the flight ban in an official letter to Ferrero-Waldner because Indonesia and the EU had agreed to sign a partnership and cooperation agreement, which included the possibility of cooperation in air transportation.

""She explained by detailing how late Indonesia's response to EU questions had been after the Garuda incident in Yogyakarta. So, there was information missing, which resulted in the ban. That's why we have asked our civil aviation agency to enhance safety standards in accordance with EU regulations. However, the fact that the EU has the spirit to consult (us) and take a collaborative approach to solving the problem is positive,"" Hassan said.

He said Ferrero-Waldner had asked Indonesia to take a two-pronged course of action.

""First, we need to strengthen the monitoring capacity of our aviation authorities and second, the airlines themselves need to make their airplanes in accordance with international standards so that the ban can be dropped.""

The European Commission (EC) decided in July to ban all Indonesian airlines, including national flag carrier Garuda, from the 27-nation bloc.

The recommendations came following a string of deadly crashes in Indonesia over the past years, which put the government's ability to provide and monitor adequate safety assurances in the aviation industry under serious question.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had reportedly blamed a high-ranking official at the Transportation Ministry for the slow response to EU queries.

At present, there are no direct flights linking Indonesia with any cities within the bloc, although Garuda had announced plans to resume flights to Amsterdam next year after it stopped the service in 2004.

The ban also will oblige tourist agencies offering package tours using domestic carriers in the archipelago to warn customers about the safety standards of Indonesian airlines.

With around 600,000 to 800,000 European tourists visiting the country annually, the ban will surely have an impact on Indonesia's tourism sector, which has not yet fully recovered from its recent slump following a series of bomb attacks in the country.

Saudi Arabia has also expressed concern over the safety of airlines here after the European Union banned all Indonesian airlines from flying to member countries on July 6, despite no Indonesian airlines currently serving European routes.

The Middle Eastern country warned authorities here it might follow the EU in banning Indonesian airlines. On Jakarta's invitation Saudi Arabian aviation authorities started auditing Indonesian airlines on Monday.

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