Indonesia, Singapore to sign air agreement
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)