11 Papuan airports temporarily closed for security following pilot shooting

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi stated that the temporary closure of 11 pioneer airports in the Papua region was carried out as a preventive measure following the shooting of a pilot and co-pilot, to ensure flight safety and airport operational security.

“One of our preventive measures at present is to close several airports that we feel do not yet have adequate security, so as to prevent any undesirable incidents from occurring,” the Transport Minister said during a working meeting with House of Representatives Commission V in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He explained that the closure of 11 pioneer airports and airstrips was in response to the shooting incident involving a Smart Cakrawala Aviation aircraft that resulted in the deaths of the pioneer aircraft’s pilot and co-pilot.

The closures were carried out because the airports in question were assessed as not yet having adequate security levels, thereby posing potential risks to crew and passengers on pioneer flight operations.

He further stated that the Ministry of Transport had conducted intensive coordination with various stakeholders to ensure that security conditions around the airports could be managed optimally, particularly in underdeveloped, frontier, outermost and border regions (3TP), in order to protect pioneer aviation services.

“Particularly those located in 3TP areas, as occurred some time ago in Papua (the shooting of the pilot and co-pilot), we have been coordinating with stakeholders,” the Transport Minister said.

The coordination involves security forces from the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the Indonesian National Police (Polri), which are tasked with maintaining stability in the region.

These efforts are being undertaken simultaneously to support the government’s work to gradually restore air transport activities at a number of directly affected pioneer airports.