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ingapore is ready to return all Indonesian airspace over Batam and Natuna, both in the regions of Riau Islands and Dumai in Riau, which has been controlled by the city state since 1946.

However, that can only be done under one condition — with approval from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

“There will be no problems. If the ICAO says OK, please do so,” Singaporean Consul General in Batam Raj Kumar told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday on the sidelines of a ground-breaking ceremony for the Bintan Resort’s special airport on Bintan Island, Riau Islands.

He said Singapore was also ready to transfer needed technology if the ICAO trusted Indonesia to take over its own airspace.

The 2009 Aviation Law stipulates that Indonesia must retrieve all sovereign airspace that has been controlled by another country.

Indonesia has failed to control airspace over the Riau Islands since 1993 following annual regional air navigation meetings among ICAO members.

The secretary at the Transportation Ministry’s directorate general for air transportation, Afianti Samad, who also attended the ceremony, said Indonesia still had time, until 2024, to retrieve all of its airspace controlled by other countries.

“Indonesia still has sovereignty over its airspace. Singapore is just a party that manages it; they help us,” she said. “It is possible for us to take over the airspace sooner than the specified period of time.”

Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono, director general for air transportation Herry Bakti Singayuda Gumay and director for air navigation Ichwanul Idrus did not respond to the Post’s inquiries.

The Indonesian government had to take control of the airspace for the sake of sovereignty, House of Regional Representatives Riau Islands delegate Aida Zulaikah Nasution said.

“We must be capable of controlling what we have. We have to be sovereign within our own domain. This has huge economic implications,” Aida said, adding that human resources may need to be upgraded for such purposes.

Under the ICAO’s decision, Indonesia allows Singapore to control air traffic, for safety reasons, including departures and arrivals for both civil and military flights, over Indonesian airspace as far as 110 nautical miles from the city-state.

Indonesia’s outdated equipment was the main reason for Singapore to manage airspace in three area sectors. Sector A includes airspace over Batam to Singapore, covering an area of 5 miles, Sector B over Tanjung Pinang and Karimun and Sector C over Natuna.

Singapore also collects route charges from airlines passing Sector A. Such charges are yet to be regulated for Sectors B and C. A source at Hang Nadim International Airport in Batam earlier said Indonesia had failed in its negotiations with Singapore over airspace because of Indonesia’s low bargaining power.

Foreign Ministry director for political, security and territorial treaties Rachmat Budiman said that the problem was “not” over whether Indonesia was weak in negotiations, but on whether it was ready to deliver air safety in air services in terms of human resources or proper equipment.

“The negotiation team is always ready, at anytime,” he told the Post, but he refused to confirm whether or not Indonesia already had adequate human resources and equipment to take over control of the airspace.