So happy to be back in the United States and grounded for a while,.. at least until another interesting opportunity comes along,.. did I say that out loud?From Wednesday 27 June 2007 Jakarta Post
Indonesia revokes licenses of unsafe airlines
JAKARTA(AP): Indonesia has revoked the licenses of four small airlines and suspended five others as part of efforts to improve safety following a string of crashes, the Transport Ministry said Monday.
In March, the government released the results of an audit examining the safety standards of local airlines that found none of them fully complied with Civil Aviation safety regulations.
It gave those found least compliant three months to improve or have their licenses removed.
State airlines Garuda Indonesia had improved its safety record over the last three months and was now ranked in the top tier of compliance, said Budhi Suyitno, director general of air transportation at the Transport Ministry.
Four other airlines had moved up to the second tier of compliance, he said.
Suyitno said licenses for the small airlines Jatayu, Prodexim, Alfa Trans Dirgantara and Aviasi Upataraksa had been revoked.
Five other airlines had their licenses suspended, including SMAC and Kura-Kura Aviation, and have three months to improve their safety, he said.
In January this year, a plane operated by a low-cost jetliner plunged into the sea, killing all 102 people on board. Weeks later,another plane's fuselage split in half after a hard landing. And in March, a Boeing 737 careered off a runway and burst into flames, leaving 21 dead.(***)
European Commission bans all Indonesian airlines from flying to EU
BRUSSELS (AP): All Indonesian airlines and several from Russia, Ukraine and Angola will be banned from flying to the European Union due to safety concerns, the European Commission said Thursday.
The existing ban on Pakistan International Airlines will also be relaxed to allow specific Boeing 747 and Airbus 310 aircraft to fly to Europe, in addition to its already authorized Boeing 777 fleet, the statement said.
"Once more, the EU black list will prove to be an essential tool not only to prevent unsafe airlines from flying to Europe and to inform passengers traveling worldwide but also to make sure that airlines and civil aviation authorities takeappropriate actions to improve safety," said Jacques Barrot, commission vice president in charge of transport.
The statement said that all 51 airlines certified in Indonesia would be blocked from flying to the European Union. Currently, no airline from that country has scheduled flights to any Europeandestination. The national flag-carrier Garuda ceased serving Amsterdam and Rome in 2005.
The statement also said that Angolan carrier TAAG Angola Airlines, and Volare Aviation from Ukraine would be added to the revised international blacklist.
Before the latest announcement, the EU banned 91 airlines - including 74 from Africa - from entering its air space. (**)
