EU to review Indonesia airline ban (MWC.News Network)

(July 09, 2007)

By Agencies

Experts from the European Union will head to Jakarta to review a ban prohibiting 51 Indonesian airlines from entering European airspace due to safety concerns.

The team is expected to check the safety standards of the affected airlines before considering whether or not to lift the ban which took effect on Friday. Although none of the affected airlines - including national carrier Garuda - fly to Europe, the ban requires tour agencies to warn customers that Indonesian airlines are unsafe when selling related packages. Indonesian aviation officials were unhappy over the decision, saying the ban was ill-informed as it failed to take into account recent improvements to airline safety. The EU "blacklist" is updated every three months based on reports from the US Federal Aviation Administration and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), as well as reports from individual countries. Jean Breteche, the EU's ambassador to Indonesia, said the EU team would check with the affected airlines on their safety conditions. "We hope to reverse the decision as soon as possible ... if the EU has enough proof of safety conditions," he said after a meeting with Indonesian aviation officials.

Booming sector Indonesia's air safety record has come under scrutiny after two major accidents this year. In March, a Garuda passenger jet with 140 people on board overshot the runway in Yogyakarta in Java and burst into flames, killing 21 people. In January, an aircraft belonging to budget carrier Adam Air crashed into the sea off Sulawesi, and has yet to be found. All 102 people on board are presumed dead. Indonesia signed an agreement last week with ICAO to improve air safety by committing to implement safety management based on international standards. Indonesia also started issuing safety rankings following the Garuda crash in March.

Garuda made the top of three levels in the latest rankings issued last month. Air travel in Indonesia grew into a booming industry following the liberalisation of the aviation sector in 1999, but the rapid growth raised questions over whether safety has been compromised.