Airline association objects to more 'administrators'

Airline association objects to more 'administrators'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA) has
objected to the government's plan to assign additional
administrators to the country's four international airports,
saying this would place an unacceptable financial burden on the
airports.

"The existing airport administrators do not fully function as
supervisors as they were intended," said INACA secretary-general
Tengku Burhanuddin after a hearing with House of Representatives
Commission V on transportation, telecommunications, public works
and housing on Thursday.

The government wants to assign administrators from the
Ministry of Transportation to Polonia Airport in Medan, North
Sumatra; Juanda International Airport in Surabaya; Ngurah Rai
International Airport in Denpasar; and Hasanuddin International
Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Burhanuddin said the administrators already at these airports
mostly did administrative work such as permit approvals, instead
of supervising state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura.

INACA fears adding more administrators to the airports would
lead to overlapping duties, more bureaucracy and greater
inefficiency.

"We demand transparency from the government ... because the
customers (airline operators) are often confused when dealing
with the bureaucracy, such as who to go to when applying for
permits," Burhanuddin said.

Airline operators agreed, saying they did not see any
coordination between the airport administrators and the airport
operator in managing the airports and providing service.

Commenting on these complaints, the public relations manager
of PT Angkasa Pura II, M. Wasfan, acknowledged there was the
possibility of overlap in operational work, particularly in the
issuance of permits such as entrance permits to the airports or
restricted zones.

He said PT Angkasa Pura II, which oversees Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport, acted more as a daily technical operator,
while the airport administrators served as coordinators.

However, Soekarno-Hatta airport administrator head A.
Moersantoso said concerns over the coexistence of the airport
operator and airport administrators were overblown.

"We are responsible for the safety of the airport,
particularly security issue," he said.

Apart from airport security, Moersantoso said the
administrators also ensured the security of the aircraft. (003)