[Marinir] Flying in Indonesia Maybe Hazardous to Your Health?

[Yap Hong Gie]

>From Asian Sentinel - 
http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=573&Itemid=31

Flying in Indonesia Maybe Hazardous to Your Health?
Our Correspondent
09 July 2007
Europe and the United States get nervous over Indonesia's shaky air safety 
record.


In more than just crash deaths, Indonesia is reaping the price of the 2000 
deregulation of its skies without paying adequate attention to the safety of 
its airlines. An all-time low in confidence in the eyes of global aviation 
authorities is severely threatening the country's tourism sector.

European and US airspace was closed last week to Indonesian-registered 
carriers following a spate of domestic aircraft accidents that generated 
intense official concern and public attention on air safety. And although 
Indonesian carriers do not fly to either region, the fear is that tourists 
considering a holiday in Indonesia may opt out because of the potential 
travel dangers, costing billions of tourism dollars.

As well they might. The fact is that travel in Indonesia - not only in the 
air but by ferry or road - can be a risky proposition, and the common 
denominator is a lack of adequate supervision by authorities, either because 
of incompetence or corruption. With 17,000 islands, ferries are ubiquitous 
and virtually all are overloaded. Passenger ferries carry extra freight, and 
freighters allow passengers to climb on. "The captains of these vessels are 
looking for extra money, and pay no attention to safety," said one traveler 
in his blog.

But it is airlines that have caught the world's attention. According to 
Flight International there were only 11 fatal airline accidents worldwide in 
the first six months of this year, covering all categories of commercial 
airline operations, including cargo. Two of those involved Indonesian 
aircraft and killed 123 people. On New Year's Day a Boeing 737-400 belonging 
to budget carrier Adam Air plunged into the sea, killing all 102 on board. 
In March, a Garuda Indonesia plane with 140 people on board overshot the 
runway in Yogyakarta and burst into flames, killing 21.

Deregulation has encouraged scores of new operators, causing a surge in 
domestic passenger growth of almost 30 percent a year between 2000 and 2005. 
In 2006, 34 million passengers flew on Indonesian airlines, up from 7.6 
million in 2000.

In September 1997 the country was officially rated Category 1 (meeting 
International Civil Aviation Organization standards) by the US Federal 
Aviation Administration's International Aviation Safety Assessment Program 
(IASA). These standards imply adequate monitoring and control of airline 
operations, aircraft maintenance, pilot training and licensing, and minimum 
required equipment on aircraft.

With more than 235 million people, Indonesia has 450 airports with profound 
differences in navigational and landing aids, weather conditions and air 
traffic density. But despite 48 air accidents in Indonesia in the last 
decade, 23 of which killed more than 700 people , according to the Aviation 
Safety Network, the FAA only brought Indonesia's civil aviation procedures 
back into its spotlight in April this year.

The catalyst was a hastily convened Indonesian government audit of the 
country's 54 airlines in March, following widespread claims of old and badly 
maintained aircraft, outdated technology, poorly-trained personnel, poor 
radar cover, non-compliance with air traffic regulations, lax supervision 
and bad management practices at airports

The audit ranked carriers in three bands, according to criteria such as 
surveillance, ramp checks, personnel, department safety, number of accidents 
and number of serious incidents. Seven airlines fell in the bottom group, 
category III, deemed as 'least safe'.
These were Batavia, Adam Air, Kartika Airlines, Transwisata Air, Jatayu 
Airlines and cargo jetliners Tri MG Intra Asia Airlines and Manunggal Air 
Service. They were threatened with closure unless they improved training and 
maintenance within three months. Most of the other airlines, including 
state-owned flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, fell into the middle category, 
following evidence that certain civil aviation requirements had not been 
implemented and problems needed fixing.

Others in category II were Merpati Nusantara Airlines, Lion Air, Sriwijaya 
Air, Wings Air, Indonesia's AirAsia, Mandala Airlines, Pelita Air Service, 
Riau Airlines, Trigana Air Service and Travel Express Aviation Service. None 
of the airlines met all the minimum civil aviation safety standards

In April, the US advised its citizens to avoid flying Indonesian airlines, 
while the FAA downgraded Indonesia's safety oversight from Category 1 to 
Category 2, citing "serious concerns" over safety.

"Whenever possible, Americans traveling to and from Indonesia should fly 
directly to their destinations on international carriers from countries 
whose civil aviation authorities meet international aviation safety 
standards," the FAA said in a statement. The ruling effectively bans 
Indonesian carriers from flying to the USA unless they fly 
foreign-registered aircraft.

In June the government announced that another safety audit had resulted in 
an upgrade of the safety rating of Garuda to Category 1 from the lower 
rating three months earlier. Four small airlines had their licenses revoked 
and five others were suspended for failing to improve safety during the 
three months between audits.

But the EU nonetheless added all Indonesian carriers to its "safety 
blacklist", prompting Indonesia to sign a declaration with the International 
Civil Aviation Organization pledging to do whatever is required to upgrade 
its aviation safety to meet ICAO standards.
.
Budhi Mulyawan Suyitno, director-general of civil aviation at the Transport 
Ministry, said that the government has failed to submit data on the audit 
and "many improvements it had made in air safety" to the EU in time.

Transport Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said that improvements in aviation 
safety had been made and the EU ban violated ICAO'S principles of fairness 
and reciprocity, as the decision was unilaterally taken without prior 
discussion with the government. Djamal said the government asked the EU on 
June 22 for an opportunity to brief EU officials about the actions Indonesia 
has taken to improve air transportation safety before the ban was announced. 
The EU reportedly agreed to meet Indonesian officials but only in October at 
the earliest.

The ban is certain to reduce the number of foreign tourists expected, 
projected earlier at six million arrivals for 2007. Travel agents in the 
27-nation EU are obliged to point out to would-be visitors that if they fly 
in Indonesian aircraft to domestic destinations, their insurance would be 
null and void. They must also sign a statement agreeing not to fly on 
Indonesian aircraft on transit routes between Jakarta and the resort island 
of Bali

According to data from the Ministry of Tourism visitors from Europe spend an 
average of US$1,450 per person per stay, and stay an average of 15 to 18 
days in Indonesia. Others, from Singapore, Malaysia, China or Japan, stay an 
average of 5 to 8 days and spend an average of US$ 500 to US$ 838 per stay.

In 2005 Jakarta banned foreign low-cost carriers from Jakarta, Bali, Medan 
and Surabaya in an effort to protect Garuda, but the issue of whether 
Singaporean low-cost carriers will be able to fly to these cities is due to 
be discussed in further talks later this year.

Sudaryatno, director of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation charges somewhat 
fancifully in the light of the country's air record, that the ban might even 
be part of a move to ruin the reputation of local airlines so that foreign 
airlines can get a foothold in the country.

Although making no specific mention of Singapore he notes that both the 
Jakarta and Bali international airports are no longer gateways to Indonesia, 
having been replaced by Singapore's Changi airport. Should nationalist 
legislators in Jakarta pick up on the Sudaryatno theory, Singapore's always 
precarious relations with Jakarta could be in for a rough ride again.