Indonesia hopes Europe will end its ban on its airlines, imposed in the months after the 2007 Garuda crash which killed 21 including five Australians.
Transport Minister Jusman Syafi’i Djamal says a European Union safety auditor will visit Indonesia next month to assess the country’s progress and consider whether to end the ban.
“I’m always optimistic, but it depends on Europe,” he told foreign journalists when asked if he was confident the EU would end the ban.
“We’ve already done our best.”
His comments came just hours after a military transport plane carrying soldiers and their families crashed in East Java, killing at least 98.
Djamal expressed regret over the crash, even though he is not directly responsible for military aircraft.
“Every crash in aviation is very sad to me, whether it’s civil or military, an airplane crash is an airplane crash,” he said.
“We have to find the root cause of the accident.”
The EU imposed the ban almost two years ago, leaving no Indonesian airline allowed to fly into European airspace.
The ban came after a string of fatal crashes in Indonesia, including the Garuda crash at Yogyakarta airport on March 7, 2007.
Djamal on Wednesday said Indonesia had addressed most of the EU’s concerns and hoped to make more progress in the coming weeks.
Analysts believe the ban will remain in place until Indonesia addresses a severe shortage of air safety inspectors.
But Djamal insists the country has made significant improvements and has reduced the number of crashes.
Source:News.com.au
By: steve rowell - 21st May 2009 at 04:37
Hmm.. Not exactly the best timing, is it? :rolleyes:
Yet Garuda still fly in and out of this country…i certainly would not fly any Indonesian carrier
By: T5 - 21st May 2009 at 04:24
His comments came just hours after a military transport plane carrying soldiers and their families crashed in East Java, killing at least 98.
Hmm.. Not exactly the best timing, is it? :rolleyes:
Sign In
May 21, 2009 at 2:38 am