Wednesday, July 15, 2009

EU lifts travel ban on Indonesian carriers

The European Commission announced Tuesday (7/14) that it had taken Garuda Airlines and three other Indonesian carriers off its aviation blacklist after air transport authorities addressed safety concerns.

"Significant improvements and accomplishments of the Indonesian civil aviation authority are recognised in the area of safety," the EU's executive arm said in a statement.

"Four air carriers -- Garuda Indonesia, Airfast Indonesia, Mandala Airlines and Prime Air -- can be taken off the list, because their authority ensures that they respect the international safety standards."

The European Union banned all Indonesian-registered aircraft from flying over its airspace in June 2007, acting on a report from the International Civil Aviation Organization which criticised the country's safety standards.

The EU ban followed a number of air crashes, including an Adam Air jet that plunged into the sea off Sulawesi island on January 1, 2007, killing all 102 on board.

A Garuda jet crashed in Central Java in March the same year, with 21 dead.

AFP has the full story…
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