PT Freeport Indonesia officials have been summoned to Jakarta over allegations that they denied fuel to a commercial plane that arrived at their airport, an aviation chief said Monday.
Herry Bhakti Singayuda, director general of civil aviation at the Transportation Ministry, said that officials of PT Freeport Indonesia would arrive on Tuesday to discuss the incident.
“The meeting is part of the evaluation process,” he said.
On Sunday, a Garuda Indonesia aircraft, flight GA 652, asked for fuel during a transit at Timika’s Moses Kilangin Airport in Papua, which is owned and managed by PT Freeport Indonesia.
The plane was en route from Jakarta to Jayapura, with two stopovers in Denpasar and Timika.
However, Herry said that the airport authorities said that they did not have enough fuel for the plane.
A few hours before incident, the same plane was diverted to Jayapura due to bad weather, where PT Freeport’s president director was waiting for another Garuda Indonesia flight, GA 653.
Herry said that the chairman allegedly demanded that he be allowed to board the plane, but the pilot refused to take him because according to the rules, the plane could not take more passengers when it was being diverted.
Herry said that as an airport operator, PT Freeport must always ensure they have enough fuel for any aircraft that stops by.
“If you don’t have any fuel stocks, do not open an airport,” he said.
Officials from PT Freeport Indonesia could not yet be reached for comment.
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