Kalla: Flight ban results from stupidity and laziness

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 10/03/2008 2:40 PM  |  World

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said in Paris on Friday that Indonesia needed to respond seriously to the demands from the European Commission that banned all Indonesian airlines from flying in European skies.

Kalla suspected that the flight ban was imposed because Indonesia air traffic authorities forgot to routinely send their reports in English to the European Commission.

"This is a combination of stupidity and laziness," Kalla was quoted by Tempointeraktif.com as telling about 300 Indonesians at an Idul Fitri gathering in Paris.

The ban was first imposed in July last year and had been extended twice.

Kalla expressed his regret on why the European Commission imposed the ban for all Indonesian airlines. "Do you think all of our airlines are bad?"

No Indonesian carriers currently fly to Europe, but analysts said the ban would prove costly for the tourism industry here as Europeans have been warned not to use Indonesian airlines on transit routes, such as between Jakarta and Bali.

Kalla said he expected that the European Commission would lift the ban this month when the Commission would meet to review the ban. (rid)

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