Airline News
Indonesia restricts aircraft age and reports the country’s aviation industry is 96.2% compliant with ICAO standards
November 13th 2015
The wheels keep turning in Indonesian aviation as the archipelago’s Ministry of Transport announced more restrictions on locally-registered aircraft. Read More » As it has now emerged, Transport Minister, Ignatius Jonan, last month amended Indonesia's Civil Aviation Safety Regulation, to forbid the importation, registration and use of commercial passenger aircraft older than ten years, while freighters were limited to fifteen years.
Existing commercial passenger and cargo aircraft already in service with local airlines may not be operated for longer than 30 years. Local carriers have been given until October 15, 2018, or 36 months from the promulgation of this regulation, to comply.
In the interim, the ministry’s director for air transportation, Muzaffar Ismail, said Indonesia had implemented 96.2% of the corrective recommendations from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Specifically, he said problems ICAO had pointed out, such as aircraft inspection training and the country’s poor safety oversight, were fixed. “With the updates, based on our analysis, we are well above 60 [points],” Muzaffar said, referring to ICAO’s scoring scale.
The FAA downgraded Indonesia’s safety rating to Category 2 in 2008, signalling the country lacked the regulations necessary to oversee carriers in accordance with minimum international standards. Following a meeting with Jonan and Muzaffar in Washington in September, the FAA revealed the country still lacked standard operating procedures in law enforcement for carriers, particularly regarding ministerial regulations on fines.
“We have signed that too. We just have to implement it. I hope it’ll all be done by 2016.” Muzaffar has asked the FAA to prioritize Indonesia, given the large number of airlines, at 57, in the country and the size of fleets operating in Indonesia. The FAA has given Indonesia an auditing slot in February.
Meanwhile, last Friday’s crash landing of a Batik Air B737-800 at Yogyakarta Airport certainly did nothing for Indonesia’s air safety record. The B737 involved was carrying 160 passengers and seven crew on a routine flight from Jakarta.
Local media reported several passengers on board said the plane came in hard on landing before its nose lurched downward and the plane skidded off the end of the runway. Batik Air is the premium subsidiary of low-cost carrier, Lion Air. Lion Air has a stained safety record and is infamous for long delays.
A hard landing in February 2014 saw a Lion Air B737 bounce four times on the runway at Surabaya Airport, causing a tail strike and substantial damage to the aircraft as well as injuries to several passengers. In 2013, another Lion B737 collided with a cow on the runway in Manado. In April that year, the carrier had to write off a brand-new B737 after the pilot undershot his landing at Bali’s Denpasar Airport and crashed the jet into the sea.
Separately, Garuda Indonesia president, Arif Wibowo, told local media this week the flag carrier would “soon” install complimentary Wi-Fi across its entire fleet.
