Jakarta Globe, Erwida Maulia, Jan 06, 2015
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| Asean Open Skies, set to be fully effective by the end of the year, is expected to boost connectivity and people's movements in the region, and in turn spur regional economic growth. (Antara Photo/Widodo S. Jusuf) |
Jakarta.
The recent crash of Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea will not
deter Indonesia’s aviation industry from embracing the opportunities offered by
the Asean Open Skies policy, a scheme to liberalize the regional aviation
market that came into effect on Jan. 1.
Under the
new policy, Southeast Asia’s skies will be transformed into a single aviation
market, part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) Economic
Community commitments that have been agreed upon by heads of the 10 members
states of bloc.
Asean Open
Skies, set to be fully effective by the end of the year, is expected to boost
connectivity and people’s movements in the region, and in turn spur regional
economic growth.
Three major
tragedies afflicting Southeast Asia’s aviation sector last year — the loss of
two Malaysia Airlines flights and the AirAsia tragedy — have raised questions
as about whether Asean will remain on track for its Open Skies plan.
On Sunday,
Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesman J.A. Bharata said the policy was still
on course.
“We’re
currently revamping our airlines, evaluating their compliance with existing
regulations to further improve passengers’ safety,” Bharata said, adding that
the moves were conducted to support Indonesia’s implementation of the policy.
The renewed
scrutiny comes in the wake of the crash of Flight QZ8501, which went missing
shortly after departing from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya on Dec.
28, en route to Singapore with 162 people on board.
The
Transportation Ministry has since declared that the carrier did not have
permission to fly that route on a Sunday, although Singapore officials say it
was cleared at that end for the flight.
Indonesian
officials did not say why Flight QZ8501, a regularly scheduled flight, was
allowed to operate without permission. Indonesia’s acting director general for
air transportation, Djoko Murjatmodjo, said last week that all airlines
operating in the country would be evaluated for any route violations.
Arif
Wibowo, the chairman of the Indonesia National Air Carriers Association
(INACA), said on Monday that the AirAsia crash and subsequent scrutiny of
airlines’ compliance with safety regulations would not deter the local aviation
industry from taking up the opportunities offered by the Open Skies policy.
“Asean Open
Skies is a political will of the government. We’ll face it head-on; we’re used
to free competition after all,” said Arif, also the newly appointed chief
executive officer of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.
He added
some local airlines, including Garuda’s low-cost unit, Citilink, had been
applying or preparing to apply for permits to operate more flights bound for
other Southeast Asian countries.
“They’re
conducting procedures for that; some of them have applied for flight permits,”
Arif told the Jakarta Globe.
He added
the local industry’s major concern surrounding the implementation of Asean Open
Skies remained competitiveness issues.
“Are local
airlines competing on a level playing field [with other airlines in the
region]?” Arif said, echoing the concern expressed by executives of several
Indonesian airlines just last month.
They said
they were not ready to face Asean Open Skies, citing tax policies, airport
inefficiencies and high aviation fuel costs in Indonesia that make local
airlines less competitive than their Southeast Asian counterparts — especially
those from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
Aviation
expert Arista Atmadjati of Yogyakarta’s Gadjah Mada University said on Monday
that local airlines would have to brace for the new policy because it was part
of the government’s commitment to supporting Asean integration under the Asean
Economic Community scheme.
The
liberalized market will boost flight frequency in the region, but this should
not be a source of concern, Arista said.
He cited as
an example the busy route near Indonesia’s Belitung Island, where Flight QZ8501
had its last contact with air traffic control.
When the
incident occurred, six other planes were flying in the area, and two others
were approaching; but even so, the high-traffic air space was not yet
overcapacity, according to Indonesia’s state navigation operator, AirNav.
“According
to the head of AirNav [...] that air space can accommodate up to 14 flights,”
said Arista, also a marketing analyst with Garuda.
The
Transportation Ministry said in September that five cities — Jakarta, Medan,
Surabaya, Denpasar and Makassar — were ready to fully open their skies in 2015
to embrace the new Asean policy.
Hemi
Pramuraharjo, a spokesman with the ministry’s Directorate General of Aviation,
said last month that the government planned to open more takeoff and landing
slots to foreign airlines at airports in those five cities.
He noted
that currently 72 percent of flight slots in the country’s main gateway,
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport outside Jakarta, were filled by domestic
flights.
“The ideal
figure should be 35 percent domestic, 65 percent,” Hemi said.
“We will be
pushing for that, not just for Soekarno-Hatta, but for all five airports that
will be opened up during the Open Skies policy,” he added. “We want to have a
balanced proportion. If foreign airlines can’t enter Indonesia, then the impact
will be that our airlines can’t go to their countries. It’s an issue of
reciprocity.”
Arista said
giving more slots to foreign airlines from around the region should not be a
problem as long as the requests were properly examined before being approved by
the Transportation Ministry.
“Although
they all compete to enter Indonesia, given the size of Indonesia’s aviation
market, which is the largest in the region, the granting of slots should be
limited,” he said.
“It should
be managed and approved by the air transport directorate general, taking into
account the capacity of the airports in question and so on.”
The
capacity of the five airports will determine whether the implementation of the
Open Skies policy can run smoothly, especially because extra slots — according
to the ministry’s plans — will mainly be given outside airports’ regular
operating hours.
“Do those
airports have enough human resources for extended operating hours? Do they have
enough supporting facilities?” Arista said.
He added,
though, that he was confident that by July or August, the five airports would
be ready to fully accommodate Asean Open Skies, citing ongoing expansions of
some of the airports that are expected to complete by that time.
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