Domestic tourist industry urges open-skies policy
JAKARTA (JP): Tourist industries here remain adamant that the government should take further steps to open up domestic air routes to foreign carriers, arguing that the changes would be a welcome boost to tourism.
However, domestic airlines remain unenthusiastic about the plan, an industry source said.
The vice president of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), Feisol Hashim, said on Wednesday that the a draft aviation policy was being studied by officials in the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture before it was submitted to President B.J. Habibie for approval.
Feisol said he and PHRI chairman Pontjo Sutowo met with Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Marzuki Usman and a senior ministry official, I Gde Ardhika, in early December to discuss the draft policy.
"During the meeting, the minister seemed very supportive of the draft," he told The Jakarta Post over the phone from his residence in Bali.
However, when asked about the plan to change the aviation policy last week, Minister of Communications Giri Suseno Hadihardjono dismissed it as unnecessary.
"We don't need to change the present policy," Giri said.
The existing policy allows foreign chartered aircraft to fly directly from overseas destinations to all airports in Indonesia which are equipped for international aircraft, provided they fly straight back to their port of embarkation with picking up new passengers.
Scheduled flights are restricted to a limited number of airports in the country.
"This is different from a limited open-skies policy," he added.
A scheduled airline wanting to serve a new destination in Indonesia must make bilateral agreement with the government in accordance to the universal aviation "cabotage" policy.
Director General of Air Transportation Soenaryo Yosopratomo said that scheduled planes had not yet started to serve any new routes in the country lately.
"We have struck one new agreement with an airline from Brunei, but it has yet to begin operating on the route," Soenaryo said, adding that many foreign airlines had cut the frequency of their flights to Indonesia in recent months or abandoned the country altogether due to falling passenger numbers.
However, the tourism-related industries wanted a new aviation policy in line with the limited open-skies policy, under which both chartered and scheduled planes would be granted the right to fly to any destination in the country.
Under the proposal, foreign carriers entering the country through Biak airport in Irian Jaya and Batam airport in Riau would be allowed to pick up passengers and cargo before flying onto other destinations here.
The proposal also calls on the government to make it legal for foreign airlines to hold majority shares in domestic carriers.
Commenting on Giri's cool response to the suggestions, Feisol said: "He should think it over. Can there be tourism without accessibility? Are we just going to ask people to paddle their boats here?"
Feisol also called on the government to reshape the mindframe of the country's development by establishing policies which gear to boost tourism, a sector expected as a major foreign exchange earner for the country. (das)