The European Union is set to partially lift a ban on Indonesian airlines on 15 July on the recommendation of its air safety committee.
"They will issue the regulation about the lifting of the ban" on 15 July and it will come into effect that same day, says Diding Sunardi, the Indonesian Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) deputy director of standards for airworthiness and air operation.
The EU imposed a blanket ban on all Indonesian airlines in June 2007 after a series of fatal airline accidents in the country. The DGCA has recommended that the ban be lifted against Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines, Airfast Indonesia and Premiair.
These four have followed the European Commission's recommendations and implemented the DGCA's "new regulation on the installation of safety equipment" such as enhanced ground proximity warning systems, which are mandatory on all commercial aircraft, says Sunardi.
Other steps taken by the DGCA to improve safety include employing more safety inspectors, having more aircraft inspections, implementing a quarterly safety audit of all local carriers, grounding carriers and grounding aircraft types, says Diding.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
