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Indonesia expects four carriers off EU ban list by July
The government says it expects four Indonesian air carriers to be removed from the European Union air ban list in July, in a first step toward the removal of all the country's carriers
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The government says it expects four Indonesian air carriers to be removed from the European Union air ban list in July, in a first step toward the removal of all the country's carriers.
The four are flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and Mandala Airlines, both passenger carriers, as well as cargo carriers Airfast Indonesia and Premi Air, said Dian Wirengjurit, the director of intra-regional cooperation for America and Europe at the Foreign Ministry, on Tuesday.
He was speaking after leading a delegation to a dialogue between Indonesia and the EU to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues.
The EU was represented by current president, Slovenia, the European Commission and France, which will hold the EU presidency after Slovenia.
Dian said the four carriers were part of the government's "fast-track program" proposal to the EU, adding this was the most feasible move for now to get a partial lifting of the ban on Indonesian airlines flying to the EU.
"The EU officials agreed this was the most realistic move and they would recommend it. The four carriers had no fundamental problems that the EU were complaining about, so they're the first ones we're proposing to be lifted," he said.
The ban list will be updated in July.
Slapping the ban on Indonesian airlines last year, the EU has said the country's carriers failed to live up to international safety and security standards following a series of fatal air accidents.
The bloc also wants Indonesia to revamp all airline-related regulations and for the national regulatory body to meet EU requirements, said Dian.
"There's a precedence when the EU lifted its ban on Congolese carrier Hewa Bora Airways although all of Congo's airlines had been banned," he said.
He said it would take time for a complete lifting of the ban because it would have to be agreed to by EU's 27 member states.
"Reports of our progress will have to be translated first into all the EU's languages, and then discussed with the respective airline authorities. That might take a while, so we've opted for this fast-track approach," he said.
Currently, no Indonesian passenger airlines serve Europe. Garuda was reportedly planning to resume flights to the continent last year, but the plan was scrapped following the ban.
"Although no airlines are serving Europe now, at least the image of Indonesia will be remedied because some of our major carriers are not on that list anymore," said Dian.
Regarding Indonesia's human rights situation, Dian said the EU officials made it clear the regional bloc appreciated the government's efforts for improvement.
"They said our efforts must be taken into account. They even acknowledged that the human rights record in the EU isn't perfect," he said.
The meeting also discussed the possibility of holding an Indonesia-Euro Day in Jakarta this year, with a series of exhibitions and seminars. The first Indonesia-Euro Day was held in 2006, in Brussels.
