Indonesia, Singapore to sign air agreement

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Singapore will sign an air agreement later this month to allow their airlines to increase flight services, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said here yesterday.

"The bilateral air agreement will be signed by President Soeharto and Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at their meeting in Yogyakarta at the end of this month," Haryanto told reporters after meeting with Soeharto at the latter's residence here.

The minister explained that under the planned air agreement, Indonesia will be allowed to assign two more airlines -- Bouraq Indonesia and Mandala Airlines -- to transport passengers between the two countries.

Three Indonesian airliners, Garuda Indonesia, Merpati Nusantara and Sempati Air, currently serve passengers traveling between the two countries.

"Singapore will allow the Indonesian airlines to take passengers from any points in Indonesia bound for Singapore," he said, adding that the Indonesian airlines will also be allowed to make stopovers in Singapore for picking up passengers bound for other parts of the world.

Haryanto said that the planned agreement will also give an option to its carriers, Singapore Airlines and SilkAir, to fly directly to nine more cities in Indonesia.

The two airlines so far serve 10 Indonesian cities, Denpasar, Medan, Surabaya, Manado, Padang, Pekanbaru, Pontianak, Ambon, Biak and Jakarta.

"But, for the time being, the two Singaporean airlines will require only three additional cities; Solo in Central Java, Mataram in West Nusa Tenggara and Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi," Haryanto said.

Singapore's airlines will also enjoy the rights of picking up passengers from Jakarta for their international destinations, such as Australia, New Zealand and North America, he said.

The planned agreement will also give options to Singapore's airlines to fly to Japan, North Pacific and Canada.

"With the agreement, the airlines of the two countries will be capable of carrying some 82,327 passengers per week," he said.

Information

Haryanto also expected that the bilateral summit in Yogyakarta will be able to clarify the matter of the establishment of a Flight Information Region (FIR) system.

"I would say that the FIR system agreement should be set up under a good understanding of involved parties on the basis of their own jurisdiction," he said.

Indonesia, for example, has now developed air facilities, including radar systems in Tanjung Pinang, Riau, and in the Natuna waters to cover air space above the area which has been a part of Singapore's jurisdiction since 1946, he explained.

He expected that the clarification of the FIR system will be able to improve both flight safety and the political air program between the two countries.

He added that it is also urgent to set up a joint operation involving the Hang Nadim multi-faceted airport on Batam Island and the Changi airport in Singapore on the grounds that the two airports, which are geographically located side by side, are parts of the Triangle of Growth covering Indonesia's Riau, Malaysia's state of Johor and Singapore. (fhp)