The incidents happened last week at two of the country’s major international entrance gates: Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten and Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java.

At Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the power unit of an Airbus A330-300 aircraft operated by national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia was accidentally set ablaze during the process of electric charging from a ground power unit (GPU) by workers. The GPU unit belongs to Garuda Indonesia subsidiary Gapura Angkasa.

In Surabaya, a car operated by state airport operator Angkasa Pura I hit an ATR 72 aircraft after its brakes malfunctioned. The aircraft is operated by low-cost carrier Wings Air.

Angkasa Pura I corporate secretary Israwadi said the company had suspended the driver after a three-day investigation into the incident.

“A corrective action will be taken so that this won’t happen again,” he said.

The two aircraft involved in the incidents have yet to be used again, although Garuda Indonesia specifically stated that there were no disruptions to its operations after the incident.

Transportation Ministry director general for air transportation Agus Santoso said the two incidents were still being investigated by the ministry.

“We have deployed officials to investigate the incidents. We just have to wait for the results,” he said.

Shortly after the Garuda aircraft incident, Agus and his team went to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and conducted a ramp check.

He said sanctions on the parties found responsible could escalate from warnings to revocations of operational permits.

“We need to see if it was a violation of procedure or if there was negligence on the part of staff,” Agus added.

After the boom of the airline industry over the last decade, the country has struggled to keep up with good governance in safety and security levels both on the ground and in the air.

Last year, ground handling companies in partnership with low-cost carrier AirAsia Indonesia and Lion Air found themselves in the spotlight for delivering passengers from international flights to a domestic arrival terminal.

The Transportation Ministry issued more than 100 regulations in 2015, most of them related to the air transportation sector.

The policies have paid off after a US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) audit last year lifted the ban put in place for more than five years on Indonesian airlines flying to the United States.

Samudra Sukardi, the vice chairman of aviation consultant firm CSE Aviation, said he was “troubled” by the multiple incidents recorded over the course of just one week.

“Ground-handling companies should also be audited. The airlines should be assessed as well by the Transportation Ministry,” he said, although he acknowledged the shortage of inspectors capable of fulfilling this work.

He stated that the incidents highlighted the lack of effort by stakeholders to improve safety standards after the country had secured an upgrade in its FAA safety status.

Another aviation observer, Arista Atmadjati, said there were also lingering concerns over the ratio of ground handling staff with the number of aircraft operated by the airlines.

“I’m afraid that there are just not enough staff to manage the airlines,” he said, adding that regulators should also check the licenses of the ground handling staff.

“When it happens two times in a week, something is just wrong. It’s a warning. There should be random checks in the field,” he said.

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