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EU, Indonesia cooperate on air safety
The Bandung Training Conference on air safety was held in Bandung, West Java from Jan
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The Bandung Training Conference on air safety was held in Bandung, West Java from Jan. 21 to 25 and initiated by the EU with the cooperation of the Transportation Ministry.
The conference was an opportunity to directly meet experts from the EU and people responsible for aviation safety in Indonesia. A frank exchange of views at the conference helped lead to a mutual understanding between the two parties and hopefully future emotional and unnecessary statements from either Indonesia or the EU can be avoided.
In July last year, the EU Air Safety Agency imposed a flight ban on all aircraft registered in Indonesia. The EU claimed that the Indonesian authorities had failed to provide information requested by the EU regarding air safety in Indonesia. However, the Indonesian authorities saw no reason for such a ban since the EU based its decision on third-party information on the problems of air safety encountered by Indonesia.
The aim and objective of the conference was to create a momentum to address air safety in a constructive manner between the EU and Indonesia. Furthermore, the conference aimed to share best practices and experiences in order to achieve a better regulatory and enforcement safety structure in Indonesia.
In addition, the EU offered assistance in training qualified members of the Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority.
Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal explained that he honored the EU's decision to impose a flight ban on Indonesian aircraft to protect its own citizens, and also shared the views that the air safety question could not be solved politically. He mentioned that in Indonesia there were more good airlines than bad ones, and unfortunately the EU had banned Indonesian airlines indiscriminately.
Furthermore he proposed a fast-track system to allow four airlines to operate in EU airspaceGaruda, Mandala and two non-scheduled air carriers, Premi Air and Air Fast. Roberto Salvarini, unit head of air safety and DG Tren of the European Commission, explained that the ban on Indonesian airlines was based on purely technical and operational considerations.
He also stressed that the decision must be approved by all 27 ministers of transportation of EU member states, and was therefore unable to give any commitment to lift the ban in the near future. However, he believes the air safety training conference was a good effort on the part of the EU and Indonesia.
During the conference there were two noteworthy presentations, given by representatives of Pakistan International Airlines and the Civil Aviation Administration of Bulgaria. Both presentations told of their experiences in taking action to receive permission to fly in EU airspace.
In the case of Pakistan, they acted very quickly to prepare a Corrective Action Plan requested by the EU. With eight months of hard work and a series of complicated procedures, Pakistan International Airlines finally was removed from the EU's blacklist.
Tariq A. Qureshi from Pakistan International Airlines stressed that the whole exercise with the EU required tight cooperation between the airlines and civil aviation authorities, and both entities had to work side by side to meet all the requirements on air safety set out by the EU.
The experience of Bulgaria was quite different. The civil aviation authority of the country itself revoked the Aircraft Operating Certificate (AOC) of their five air cargo carriers. This action was taken on the basis of having the worst Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft results in 2004-2006, which was about to result in the blacklisting of five Bulgarian air cargo operators by the EU.
To remedy this, the aviation authorities required the respective air cargo companies to submit a correction action plan.
In the meantime, the aviation authorities imposed restrictions on their AOC preventing them from operating in EU member states, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, until all deficiencies were rectified.
After five days of deliberations, the participants of the training conference approved the Preliminary Joint Conclusions of the Bandung Conference Roadmap to Aviation Safety, including implementing the roadmap. It suggested using a project management approach, setting up a special project team and revising specific operating regulations to reflect the latest ICAO standards.
The deliberations of the conference successfully reflected a common understanding with a friendly and constructive dialogue and using one languageair safety.
Both Indonesia and EU communities will be expecting to see Indonesian air carriers will one day again be able to fly into and over EU airspace.
The writer is an expert in civil aviation and the author of Development of International Air Transport Policy and Perkembangan Kebijakan Angkutan Udara Indonesia.
