Cooperation sought to face EU ban on airlines

The Indonesian government and airlines should work together to tackle the European Union ban on the country's airlines, a top British envoy said Tuesday.

""I strongly advise the government and airlines to plan what is needed to be done step by step and move quickly,"" British Ambassador to Jakarta Charles Humfrey, said Tuesday.

He added that speed was important as well as paying attention to detail.

The safety committee of the European Commission (EC) issued the ban on July 6, even though no Indonesian airlines currently fly to Europe. National carrier Garuda Indonesia used to serve a number of European routes and was considering reopening some of them before the ban was issued.

""This is not a political problem but a technical problem. The safety committee has its own standard and procedures to be followed up,"" Humfrey said, adding that politicizing the issue would only worsen the problem.

Humfrey was speaking at an ambassadors forum organized by the Indonesian Journalists Association and the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists in cooperation with the Communications and Information Ministry.

The ambassador also said that the EC had offered to explain the procedures and that experts from both sides should talk to each other and work on it.

The EC has given Indonesia until October to clarify the matter.

Following the EU ban, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia also warned Indonesia that it might follow EU. Currently only Garuda Indonesia flies to Jeddah and Riyadh.

Jakarta reacted promptly by inviting GACA officials to audit Indonesian airlines.

Published on The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007