Saudi Arabia, Indonesia in talks to head off Garuda ban

19 July, 2007:

Saudi Arabia may have to ban Indonesia’s Garuda following the European Union's (EU) aviation policy. The EU banned all Indonesian airlines from its airspace because of safety concerns. However, Saudi Arabia wants to first review Indonesia's safety record. Experts from the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) are expected to tour Jakarta for talks with Indonesian officials and conduct spot inspections of safety measures and records of Garuda Indonesia.

Earlier on, an Indonesian team had held a meeting with GACA officials. However, this meeting had resolved that no decision will be taken about a possible ban on Garuda flights until the Saudi team of experts reports back, the report added. Garuda had been operating eight flights a week from Jakarta to Jeddah, three of them via Riyadh. It has planned up to 60 extra flights between June and September 2007 to transport Umrah pilgrims who total 100,000 a year. The carrier is planning to bring 210,000 Haj pilgrims this year. Over 200,000 others, a majority of them housemaids, travel to the Kingdom every year for work.

The European Union ban on the Indonesian carrier came into effect on July 6, 2007. This in fact had come close on the heels of a move in April 2007 by the US Federal Aviation Authority to downgrade Indonesia’s safety rating that amounted to a de facto ban. The ban came as a fall out of two major air disasters in the Indonesian archipelago since the beginning of 2007. Currently no Indonesian airline operates services to Europe or the United States.

Meanwhile, on the Saudi Arabian initiative, it has been reported that the Arab nation has only sent a letter to the Indonesian Air Transportation Directorate General saying its Civil Aviation Authority is willing to meet with its counterpart, the Indonesian civil aviation authority. The letter said that Saudi Arabia wanted to know in detail the reason for the EU’s decision to bar Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe. The talks are expected to reveal what Indonesia has to say.

In the meantime, Indonesia is hopeful that Saudi Arabia will be convinced of Garuda’s safety measures. The officials plan to show Saudi Arabia the flight safety rating Garuda had obtained. Prior to this, Indonesia had held meetings with the civil aviation authorities of the United States, Australia, Japan, and South Korea in connection with the EU’s flight ban.