Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed disappointment after Indonesian planes were banned from European Union airspace, Transport Minister Jusman Djamal told reporters Wednesday following talks with Yudhoyono.
"President Yudhyono said he is disappointed by the European Union's unilateral action," Djamal said. "They should provide room for dialogue."
The minister was quited by DPA as saying Indonesia also had the option of restricting access to its airspace for EU planes, or of advising its citizens not to fly with European airlines.
"Indonesia can do the same thing, we can say Indonesian airspace is limited for EU planes," Djamal said.
The EU last week banned all 51 Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe, while the US Federal Aviation Administration in April declared Indonesia had failed to comply with international safety standards.
Indonesia's air safety record has been under fire following two commercial airline crashes this year that killed 123 people.
On Monday this week, Indonesia signed a joint declaration with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) president Roberto Gonzalez on the resort island of Bali aimed at improving safety and meeting international standards.
The pact commits Indonesia to improving air safety and security, and strengthening the supervisory capacity of the air transport directorate-general, which is to be restructured.
The Indonesian government vowed that it would ensure the directorate-general had adequate financing and manpower and would be able to quickly issue corrective measures necessary to meet ICAO standards. The government would also conduct audits, improve transparency when investigating accidents, and put better management systems in place for overseeing air safety, airports and airlines.
Indonesian authorities last week revoked the licences of four domestic airlines and suspended a further five from operating for failing to comply with basic safety standards.
Indonesia has dozens of low-cost airlines following the deregulation of the industry in the late 1990s, leading to a quadrupling of passenger numbers in the past seven years.
But the industry has been beset by crashes, which prompted the Indonesian government to announce the new ratings system.
No comments:
Post a Comment