Air carriers association oppose open-sky policy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Air Carriers Association (Inaca)
\ncriticized the government's plans to introduce an open-sky
\npolicy, saying that such a ruling is unlikely to attract foreign
\ntourists.<\/p>\n
Inaca Secretary-General G.B. Rungkat said an open-sky policy
\nwas unnecessary, and unlikely to boost the occupancy rates of
\nlocal hotels.<\/p>\n
\"This is a prescription based on the wrong diagnosis and
\nignores both facts and logic,\" Rungkat said at an airline
\nindustry seminar last week.<\/p>\n
Existing bilateral agreements between airlines were enough to
\nbring in foreigners to Indonesia, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Under the agreements...foreign airlines are entitled to
\nenough flights a week, but they are not utilizing their maximum
\ncapacities,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Whatever the problems of the hotel industry, it is not the
\nlack of flight frequency entitlements. In fact, a number of large
\nforeign carriers have reduced their flights to Indonesia,\"
\nRungkat said.<\/p>\n
He made the statements partly in response to recent
\nsuggestions from hoteliers that the government apply an open-air
\npolicy to increase the occupancy rates of local hotels.<\/p>\n
Rungkat said foreign carriers pulled out of Indonesia because
\n\"airlines are not in the business of flying empty seats\".<\/p>\n
\"They have discovered that traffic into, through and from
\nIndonesia is not enough to warrant the utilization of all their
\nfrequency entitlements,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Capacity expansion does not automatically result in
\nadditional traffic, thus they figure they are better-off fielding
\ntheir available capacity elsewhere,\" Rungkat said.<\/p>\n
The government currently applies a limited open-sky policy
\nallowing national and foreign airlines to operate direct flights
\nfrom tourist-generating countries to various tourist destinations
\nin Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Director General of Air Transportation Zainuddin Sikado told
\nthe seminar that for this purpose, Indonesia has opened 23
\nairports for international services.<\/p>\n
\"This is to support the national tourist industry and
\naccommodate the needs of the national air-transport industry,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Zainuddin acknowledged that to anticipate the globalization
\nera, the government would continue to promote a competitive
\nenvironment on the basis of \"fair and equitable opportunity and
\nreciprocity to ensure the participation of all air carriers\".<\/p>\n
\"Sovereignty should be respected and there is a general
\nagreement that for the foreseeable future, the bilateral system
\noffers the best prospects for further competitive services,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The limited open-sky policy is currently applied to air routes
\nlinking areas in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle
\n(IMT-GT) and the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN
\nGrowth Area (BIMP-EAGA).<\/p>\n
Under an agreement signed by the governments of these sub-
\nregional groups, designated airlines are allowed to establish air
\nlinkages (both scheduled and non-scheduled) at service points
\nwithin the groups.<\/p>\n
\"Taking the national interest into consideration, the
\nintroduction of an open-sky policy should be implemented on a
\ngradual basis,\" Zainuddin said.<\/p>\n
\"For the time being, a limited open-sky policy is the best
\npossible approach toward an open-sky policy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Despite the rulings, the local administration of Irian Jaya
\nlast September decided to declare the air over Biak an open-sky
\narea for international airlines.<\/p>\n
According to Antara, the decision has yet to be approved by
\nJakarta. (pwn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/air-carriers-association-oppose-open-sky-policy-1447893297",
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