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.