TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The European Commission has made an update on its EU Air Safety List, which contains the names of airlines that failed to meet international safety standards and subject to operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union territory.
One of the notable updates in the list was the removal of all airlines certified in Indonesia. Indonesian airlines were crossed out following further improvements to the aviation safety situation ascertained in the country.
The decision to update the list was made based on the unanimous opinion of the aviation safety experts from the EU Member States who met from May 29 to May 31, 2018, within the EU Air Safety Committee (ASC).
"The EU Air Safety List is one of our main instruments to continuously offer the highest level of air safety to Europeans. I am particularly glad that after years of work, we are today able to clear all air carriers from Indonesia. It shows that hard work and close cooperation pay off," said Violeta Bulc, the European Commissioner for Transport in a press release dated Thursday, June 14, 2018.
The European Union Ambassador to Indonesia Vincent Guerend expressed his congratulation in relation to this positive development.
"Congratulations to our Indonesian partners, especially the Ministry of Transport and Indonesia's airlines, for the great work they have done in addressing the air safety issues," the Ambassador stated in the press release.
All Indonesian carriers were put on the EU Air Safety List in 2007 due to unaddressed safety concerns. Over the past years, the main carriers (Garuda Indonesia, Airfast Indonesia, Ekspres Transportasi Antarbenua, Indonesia Air Asia, Citilink, Lion Air and Batik Air) were removed, but the remaining Indonesian carriers were still on the list until yesterday.
TEMPO ENGLISH