Another EU team to review air safety

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission (EC), currently on an official visit to Indonesia, said Friday that the commission would send another verification team to speed up a review of air safety in Indonesia.

Speaking to reporters Friday following a meeting with President Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono, Barosso said that the flight ban imposed on Indonesian airlines was a "technical matter".

"Let me tell you, the European Union (EU) was also forced to take some measures against European Union airlines, so this is a decision, but it is only on technical grounds," he was quoted as saying by AFP.

In July, the EU banned 51 Indonesian airlines, including national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, from flying to Europe following a series of air accidents here.

Recent crashes included an Adam Air plane that plunged into the sea off Sulawesi island on New Year's Day, killing all 102 people on board, and, in March, a Garuda jet that burst into flames on landing in Central Java, killing 21 people.

No Indonesian airlines fly regularly to and from the EU, but under European rules, passengers must be informed if an airline is on the list of banned carriers and can demand reimbursement or an alternative carrier for tickets bought in Europe for flights that do not enter EU skies.

An expert team from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) visited Jakarta early this month to verify the fight safety standards of the country's major airlines.

Director General of Air Transportation Budhi M. Suyitno said at that time that the results of the verification should have been reported to the EC's regular meeting in Brussels on Nov. 19 (Monday). However, no decision has been announced so far.

"And I said to President Yudhoyono that myself and the European Commission will do everything to speed up all the procedures, to work in close contact with Indonesian authorities so that the issue can be solved in full respect ... for the technical requirements of safety," Barroso said.

"In fact, I'm pleased to say that very soon there will be another mission here working with (our) Indonesian colleagues to do everything to speed up this process of reviewing all the safety conditions," he added.

Barroso acknowledged the measures taken by the government to improve flight safety standards among the country's airlines, saying that such efforts were necessary to protect passengers and ensure the safety of air travel both here and in Europe.

Meanwhile, President Yudhoyono said that he had asked Barosso during the meeting to help lobby for the lifting of the ban and to normalize aviation relations with the EU.

He said that the Indonesian government was committed to improving flight safety standards and would, for this purpose, cooperate with the EU on technical matters.

"I stressed that we were in the midst of serious efforts to improve our regulations and the safety of our aviation industry, and I'm glad that in recent times there have been efforts to rectify the situation," Yudhoyono said. (amr)