Indonesia asks for Delhi Metro's assistance

Business Standard, New Delhi July 04, 2008, 19:53 IST

Indonesia has sought Delhi Metro's assistance in providing consultancy services for the proposed metro system in its capital Jakarta.

A high level transport delegation  from Indonesia met E Sreedharan, MD, DMRC to discuss the possibility of DMRC providing consultancy service to the Jakarta metro.

The Indonesian delegation indicated that they would soon approach DMRC for signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in areas including economic operational viability studies since the Delhi metro is one of the few metro's in the world making operational profit.

Other countries that have shown interest in Delhi Metro's expertise include Syria, Pakistan, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Vietnam etc.

VP says Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta Airport ready this year

Jakarta, (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla has expressed optimism that the construction of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport`s terminal-3 would be completed at the end of this year.

"I have just inspected the construction site of terminal-3 and I find that it will be completed at the end of this year," the vice president said after the inspection at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Saturday.

Meanwhile, project manager Yudhi Listiono said the completion of terminal-3 has reached 38 percent from the original target of 37 percent.

Yudhi also explained to the vice president that the construction of the terminal was divided into five phases and would be completed in two years.

"But the first phase will be ready at the end of this year," Kalla said.

The vice president explained that when the first phase of terminal-3 was ready, it would be able to accommodate 4 million people, but when all five phases were ready they would accommodate 20 million people.

"So far, terminal-1 and terminal-2 only accommodate around 20 million, but every year they accommodate more than 34 million passengers," Kalla said.

Therefore, he asserted that the construction of terminal-3 should be accelerated to anticipate the increasing economic growth.

Navy orders three aircraft form PT Dirgantara Indonesia

The Jakarta Post

Antara, Surabaya |Thu, 07/03/2008 4:33 PM

The Indonesian Navy has ordered two maritime patrol aircraft and one CN 212-400 plane from the country's aircraft industry PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI).

"The number of naval aircraft we have is still small and therefore we will continue to increase it," Navy chief of staff Admiral Sumardjono said here on Thursday.

He said he would continue to improve the naval armament system including aircraft and warships through transfer-of-technology deals with other countries.

"The oldest aircraft we have at present were made in the 1980s but we will continue to rejuvenate our fleet," Sumardjono said, adding that only airworthy planes would be operated.

Meanwhile, the head of the Navy's Aviation Center, Admiral Sumartono, said the Navy now had a total of 68 airplanes of various types but only 48 of them were serviceable.

Indonesia grounds small airlines to meet safety standards

Wed Jul 2, 2008 7:37am BST 

JAKARTA, July 2 (Reuters) - Indonesia's transport ministry grounded five small airlines this week because they did not meet safety standards, a ministry official said on Wednesday.

The transport ministry gave Helizona, SMAC, Asco Nusa Air, Tri-MG Intra Asia Airlines and Dirgantara Air Service three months to meet minimum safety standards, Budi Mulyawan Suyitno, director general of air transportation, said. "Those airlines, with small planes for rent, didn't meet safety standards," Suyitno said. "If within three months they don't show any improvement we will revoke their air operator's certificate."

Suyitno said this move was part of an on-going process to improve the the safety standards of Indonesian airlines.

In March, Indonesian budget carrier Adam Air, which has suffered a series of accidents and defaulted on debt payments, had its flights grounded over safety concerns.

Indonesia's airline industry has grown rapidly in the past decade following liberalisation, with the launch of new players and a wider choice of routes across the sprawling archipelago.

However, the world's fourth-most populous country has suffered a string of airline disasters in recent years, raising concerns about safety standards and prompting the European Union to ban all Indonesian airlines from its airspace.

In January 2007, an Adam Air plane crashed into the sea off Sulawesi island, with all 102 people on board presumed dead. In March 2007 a Garuda plane carrying 140 people on board skidded off the Yogyakarta runway, killing 21 people. 

(Reporting by Olivia Rondonuwu; Editing by Sugita Katyal and Valerie Lee)