Padang, West Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (Asita) expressed disappointment about the European Union (EU) for still maintaining its ban on Indonesian airline companies from flying to Europe.
"Of course Asita feels disappointed because the ban has caused a substantial decline in the number of foreign tourists especially from Europe coming to Indonesia," Asnawi Bahar, Asita vice chairman told ANTARA News here Friday.
The ban on the airline flights didn`t only hamper Indonesian planes to fly to Europe, but it also discouraged European tourists to fly by Indonesian airlines even to domestic destinations.
"So, the ban caused a double loss to the tourism sector," he reminded.
Thus, Bahar hoped that the government and the related institutions to seriously cope with the problem because it could also adversely affect world confidence in Indonesia.
In Jakarta, Vice President Jusuf Kalla has ordered national flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia to seek the advice from a European Union aviation consultant on how to improve its flight safety and quality standards.
"European Union aviation safety and quality standards are better than those of any other country in the world, even of the United States. They have their own standards and thus we have to improve ours," Kalla said after performing Friday prayers.
The vice president made the statement in response to a question about the EU ban on Indonesian airline companies preventing them from flying to Europe.
According to Kalla, Indonesia should improve its flight safety and quality standards rather than merely lodging a protest against the EU ban.
The vice president said, what the European Union was concerned about was aviation safety and security standards, also for Indonesians themselves.
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