Airlines want control of FIR to be national<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Domestic air carriers yesterday urged
\nlegislators to encourage the government to take control of the
\nflight information region (FIR) from Singapore as soon as
\nIndonesia is capable to operate such a system.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia has the capability to operate FIR itself and as
\nsuch it is the government's right to approach the International
\nCivil Aviation Organization (ICAO) based in Montreal, Canada,\"
\nsecretary general of the Indonesian Air Carriers' Association
\n(INACA) G. Benny Rungkat told Commission V of the House of
\nRepresentatives here yesterday.<\/p>\n
He said that Indonesia has plenty of well-trained air traffic
\ncontrollers but yet Singapore still operates the stretch up to
\nRiau, Pontianak in West Kalimantan and Ujungpandang in South
\nSulawesi.<\/p>\n
He said that the chances are not so good for Indonesia to
\nqualify as FIR operators, despite the fact that it operates its
\nown communication satellites.<\/p>\n
\"I think there have been at least five seminars about FIR, but
\nthere's no measure from the Directorate General of Air
\nTransportation to act properly,\" Benny said.<\/p>\n
According to Benny, as Singapore continues to control
\nIndonesia's air traffic, domestic carrier expenses will be
\ncostlier due to , for example, the time the planes spend waiting
\nto land.<\/p>\n
\"I think such a practice may also have an impact on socio-
\npolitical affairs, which are not INACA's concerns,\" he said.<\/p>\n
INACA groups 21 firms, including six scheduled airlines,
\nstate-run Garuda Indonesia and Merpati Nusantara and private-run
\nSempati Air, Bouraq Airways, Mandala Airlines and Dirgantara Air
\nService.<\/p>\n
Domestic routes<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sempati's president Hasan M. Soedjono said that
\nINACA members' load factors for domestic routes have been
\ndeclining and will get worse because their seat capacities are
\ngrowing at a faster pace than the number of passengers.<\/p>\n
He explained that their total load factor was recorded at 63
\npercent in 1989, when their planes had a total seat capacity of
\n14.19 million seats while the number of passengers reached 8.94
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
The total load factor decreased steadily to 54 percent last
\nyear when 10.8 million passengers used their 20.19-million-seat
\ncapacity.<\/p>\n
The load factor is estimated to sink further this year and
\nnext to 51 percent and 49 percent respectively as the number of
\npassengers is estimated at 11,63 million and 12.52 million while
\nthe available seats will reach 22.63 million and 25.8 million.<\/p>\n
According to Hasan, the figure will be poorer as Indonesia
\nwill likely purchase 22 used Boeing 737-200 aircraft from
\nLufthansa within the next two years, while Merpati proposes to
\nexpand its fleet with more jet aircraft. Garuda, which focuses on
\ninternational routes, is aiming for more domestic routes.<\/p>\n
The government recently finalized the procurement of ten B737-
\n200s worth about $88 million, which will then be resold to
\nMerpati, Bouraq, Mandala and Sempati through PT Pann Multi
\nFinance. The government originally planned to buy 32 used
\nLufthansa planes, but the purchase of the other 22 was postponed
\ndue to financial problems.<\/p>\n
Hasan said the government should keep the aviation business
\nfair by preventing Garuda from operating more domestic routes and
\nby opening more regional flights for them. (icn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/airlines-want-control-of-fir-to-be-national-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}