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security breach at the Pekanbaru airport in Riau when a man hid inside the landing gear of a plane must serve as a wake-up call for airport operators to improve security and safety, says an aviation analyst.

Arista Atmadjati, an aviation analyst from Gadjah Mada University, said airport operators needed to pay more attention to basic infrastructure such as fences and CCTVs.

'€œBasic infrastructure is as important as the navigation and ATC equipment, but apparently airport operators did not deem them as important,'€ he said.

Gerry Soejatman, another aviation expert, meanwhile called on airport operators to improve security by involving communities near the airport.

He said a more dynamic approach to improve security was needed and should engage local communities to encourage them to report unusual activity and possible threats to the airport authority.

'€œStatic surveillance has opportunities to be penetrated. The airport operator should have a dynamic approach to security, take geographical defense into count and also engage with the local community and not solely rely on barrier defense,'€ Gerry said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II (AP II) president director Budi Karya Sumadi said the airport operator would improve its security by installing higher fences and more CCTVs, increasing the frequency of patrols from once every hour to once every half hour, as well as working with the Air Force to help with surveillance.

'€œIn addition to improving security, strict law enforcement is also important,'€ Budi said on Thursday.

Mario Steven Ambarita, 21, has been named a suspect for violating articles 421 and 435 of Law No. 1/2009 on civil aviation for entering a restricted area and endangering flight safety.

The Transportation Ministry'€™s civil servants investigator (PPNS) said that Mario could face a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a maximum fine of Rp 500 million (US$38,000) for violating Article 435 and an additional Rp 100 million fine for violating Article 421.

The ministry has also prompted AP II to remove its general manager and security official from their posts for negligence.

AP II spokesperson Achmad Syahir said that the firm had officially suspended the airport'€™s general manager on Wednesday. He also said that fences and CCTV cameras were already in place to guard the airport'€™s runway areas.

Achmad said that the airport operator, along with the ministry and the PPNS, had begun a session to reconstruct the incident at Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport on Thursday.

'€œIt is part of the investigation and we will have to wait for the result to further explain how he managed to breach our security system,'€ he said.