Garuda had its ban on flights to Europe lifted during the summer.
Airport security measures and an airline’s ability to deal with chaos and panicked passengers are key points to be considered if all of the nation’s carriers are to be certified as eligible to fly to Europe, Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said on Monday.
He made the statement ahead of a planned visit by the European Union’s Air Safety Commission this month, following a request in November to have EU bans lifted on domestic carriers Lion Air, Indonesia AirAsia, Batavia Air and charter airline Travira Air.
Freddy said the EU would not only assess the airlines but also the security preparations adopted by Indonesian airports.
“Airport safety and emergency readiness are two major points,” Freddy said.
The government has certified 20 of the country’s airlines as eligible to fly to Europe and will soon deliver a report to the EU requesting the 2007 blanket flight ban be lifted.
In July, the EU removed restrictions on flagship carrier Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines, Airfast and PrimeAir.
The move was in response to what the European Commission, the EU’s regulatory arm, deemed “significant improvements” by the Indonesian civil aviation authorities.
The EU flight ban, based on safety concerns uncovered by an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization as well as a string of accidents in Indonesia, was enforced by on all Indonesian airlines in 2007.
The restriction has been costly, with Garuda losing $1.5 million a month in revenue because of the ban, the carrier said in 2008.
Herry Bhakti Singayuda, director general of civil aviation at the Transportation Ministry, said that the state authority responsible for air transportation would be divided into two separate entities next year.
“One institution will be responsible for monitoring air transport in the eastern half of Indonesia, and the other in the western part of the country,” Freddy said, adding that the offices in the east would be based in Makassar, South Sulawesi, while the western offices would be in Jakarta. The move is in accordance with the 2009 Aviation Law stipulating that the government can only be the regulator and not the operator of an airport. The Transportation Ministry still operates several airports in collaboration with state-owned operators PT Angkasa Pura I and PT Angkasa Pura II.
Trisno Heryadi, spokesman for PT Angkasa Pura II, which is responsible for air travel in western Indonesia, said the company had worked hard to meet the standards set by the ICAO, adding that frequent training programs were held for airport personnel, particularly at international airports such as Soekarno-Hatta in the capital.
Training programs for airport staff, however, were not evident on Friday at Yogyakarta’s Adisucipto Airport, where little was done to pacify angry passengers who became involved in a vicious brawl with Lion Air customer service officials after their flight was delayed three times.
Eko Roesni, secretary general of aviation watchdog People for Indonesia Air Transportation, said the fight was triggered by Lion Air’s failure to communicate vital information to its passengers about the delays.
The altercation on Friday came on the heels of another incident that sent travelers into a panic the day before, when smoke began billowing from a Batavia Air flight’s engine at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar. Nine were injured as the passengers rushed for the exits.
In August, passengers waiting to board an Air Asia flight destroyed chairs and luggage carts at Medan’s Polonia International Airport after their flight to Jakarta was delayed overnight.
Indonesia has reported 2,176 air-crash fatalities since 1943, compared with 1,141 in the Philippines and 1,976 in Japan.
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