Putri Prameshwari

A Garuda airliner waits at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport. (JG Photo)

EU Flight Ban to Be Lifted for Garuda and 3 Other Airlines

The European Union’s air transportation regulator has recommended partially easing a ban on Indonesia-based aircraft, a move that would allow four local airlines to fly over Europe for the first time since 2007, an Indonesian aviation official said on Friday.

The recommendation, revealed on Friday, was immediately welcomed by Indonesian airlines, which have suffered a foundering global reputation due to the sanction.

Herry Bhakti Singayuda, the Ministry of Transportation’s director general of aviation, said the European Union’s Air Safety Commission had issued a letter to the European Parliament recommending that it partially lift the ban that was imposed on Indonesian aircraft in 2007 over widespread lapses in air safety.

“The ban has been lifted for four operators,” Herry said. He identified the four as the country’s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines and two charter companies: Airfast and Premi Air.

Herry said that a meeting of the Air Safety Commission in Brussels approved Indonesia’s presentation on the latest air safety conditions in the country, and that the commission had issued a letter asking for restrictions on the four operators to be lifted. But Lion Air, Indonesia’s largest airline in terms of passenger volume, was conspicuously absent from the list.

Indonesia has a total of 51 airlines, but few would have the ability or the incentive to fly to Europe.

“The meeting went well,” Herry said. Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said the European Parliament was due to announce the end of the ban on July 12.

The EU ambassador to Indonesia, Julian Wilson, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The July 2007 ban has been an embarrassment for the country, giving the impression, with some justification, that safety standards in the local industry are below global norms. The ban came just months after an Adam Air Boeing 737 disappeared over the Makassar Strait on New Year’s Day, killing all 102 people on board.

In March that year, another Boeing 737, operated by Garuda Indonesia, crashed upon landing at Yogyakarta’s Adisucipto International Airport and caught fire, killing 21 people.

The EU based the ban on a safety audit conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which outlined 69 recommendations that Indonesia had to meet.

They included matters pertaining to air safety, ground handling and the country’s regulatory environment. Most of the items were brought into compliance after the government passed an aviation law earlier this year. The rest were gradually checked off the list under close watch from EU inspectors.

State news agency Antara quoted Teuku Faizasyah, a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, as saying his office had received a copy of the recommendation letter.

Aviation observer Dudi Sudibyo said Indonesia still had a lot to do for the ban to be lifted for all Indonesian airlines. “I think the ban for the rest of the airlines could last through the year,” he said.

Despite improvements, a string of air accidents continue to mar Indonesia’s air transportation record. The latest mishap took place on Monday, when a cargo plane operated by Aviastar crashed in Papua, killing all three crew members.

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