RI unveils open skies policy for ASEAN members

JAKARTA (JP): The government announced yesterday a full open skies policy for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) eastern subregional growth area linking several Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan and Sulawesi and the neighboring nations of Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

"Any airlines of the involved countries are welcome to serve the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines Growth Area on a point- to-point basis, not as stopovers to other overseas destinations," Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said in a hearing with House Commission V for transportation and tourism.

He said that government-owned air carries from Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines are invited to link Indonesia's three major cities in the growth area -- Pontianak in West Kalimantan, Balikpapan in East Kalimantan and Manado in North Sulawesi -- with the major cities in the relevant provinces in the other three participating countries.

"But the airlines are not allowed to proceed to other destinations beyond the growth area," Haryanto said.

He said that his office recently rejected a proposal from Brunei on flight services linking Bandar Seri Begawan and Sydney via Balikpapan as well as Bandar Seri Begawan and Perth in Australia via Pontianak.

"A service linking Bandar Seri Begawan, Kucing in Malaysia, Pontianak and Balikpapan or Manado, for instance, would be welcome." he cited. "I invite all airlines from the involved countries to serve the growth area as frequently as they want."

In 1994 Philippine Airlines and Indonesia's Bouraq Airlines established joint air services to link Manado and Davao in the Philippines twice weekly with HS-748 aircraft owned by Bouraq.

Malaysia Airlines currently serves the Kucing-Pontianak route twice a week with Fokker F-50 aircraft.

Merpati discontinued its service linking Brunei and Balikpapan a few years ago on account of the lack of interest.

The eastern growth area of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed in 1994 to boost cooperation in tourism, industry and agriculture. It then comprised Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia, East and West Kalimantan and North Sulawesi in Indonesia and the southern Philippines.

Several months ago Indonesia proposed to expand its part in the growth area to include Central and South Kalimantan, Central, Southeast and South Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya in efforts to prepare the country to face tariff-free competition from 2003 under the ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement.

The seven-nation ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In addition to the eastern growth area, ASEAN also has two other subregional cooperation areas -- the Indonesia-Malaysia- Thailand Growth Triangle and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle. (icn)