RI asked to open sky in 4 cities

RI asked to open sky in 4 cities

Agence France-Presse, Singapore

Singapore Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong urged Indonesia on Thursday to reverse a ban on regional budget airlines flying to four major cities, saying increased tourism would boost economic growth.

Yeo said Singaporean aviation officials had been told by their Indonesian counterparts during talks in January that the cities of Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Denpasar on Bali would be not be open to low-cost carriers.

"We are urging the Indonesians to reconsider, to take a look at the interests of the economy rather than seeking to protect their airlines," Yeo told reporters after signing an open skies pact with Bahrain's Transportation Minister Sheikh Ali Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa here.

"If they are looking at creating employment, the best way to create employment is to have another million visitors into the country which the airlines will provide if they are allowed to fly."

Yeo emphasized that transport ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had agreed to have unlimited flights between their capitals by 2008.

"So it's only a matter of time before they (Indonesians) have to open up. So we are telling the Indonesians 'why not open up earlier?'" Yeo said.

Yeo's comments come amid a row between Singapore aviation authorities and AWAIR, the Indonesian arm of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia.

AWAIR earlier this year canceled a proposed route to Singapore after the city-state's aviation regulators rejected their application.

AWAIR said the Singapore government was using it as a "bargaining chip" in bilateral air talks with Jakarta.

Yeo on Thursday rejected the allegation, saying Singapore only wanted to level the playing field after the low-cost airlines were banned from flying to the four Indonesian destinations.

"As such we have applied the same restriction because if it applies to LCCs (low-cost carriers) from Singapore it must also apply the other way as well," he said

"It's a level playing field for both sides."

Three budget carriers are based in Singapore: Tiger Airways, backed by Singapore Airlines, Jetstar Asia, which is 49-percent owned by Australian carrier Qantas, and Valuair.