The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has questioned several regulations issued by the Transportation Ministry in the aviation sector, which according to the association could hamper the industry’s growth in the coming years.
IATA director general and CEO Tony Tyler said that the ministry should apply “smarter” regulation principles when establishing new regulations, such as minimum price and forbidding airlines from selling tickets at airports when train tickets can be purchased at a train station.
“Any regulation that is not a smart regulation will hamper the growth of the industry. The government’s job is to regulate. We are not against regulation because regulation in the area of safety is essential,” Tyler said in a press conference on Thursday.
“So we urge the government to think about the problems it’s trying to resolve and then talk to the experts and people involved in the industry,” he added.
The minimum-price regulation used to be the norm in the industry around 30 years ago but it has slowly been eliminated, according to Tyler. Scheduled low-cost airlines cannot price their tickets at less than 40 percent the price ceiling set by the government, according to a recent Transportation Ministry regulation.
“It’s better to let the market determine the prices and make sure that airlines run properly and are properly supervised to meet their safety obligations,” he went on saying.
IATA also urges the country to increase capacity. By 2034, Indonesia’s airports are expected to handle an additional 183 million passengers compared to today, the association’s data shows.
“The capacity problem in Jakarta is nowhere near being solved, even with the terminal upgrades. Indonesia needs a hub. The most efficient solution is to maximize the potential of one airport — Soekarno-Hatta where significant investment has already been made,” Tyler said.
He added that safety remained aviation’s top priority and the biggest concern for the successful development of aviation in the archipelago given the fact that Indonesia has had at least one hull loss annually since 2010.
Indonesia was assessed as below the global average in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP).
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has also downgraded Indonesia to Category 2 in its International Aviation Safety Assessment program.
IATA encouraged the government to make the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) compulsory for an Indonesian AOC (air operator certificate), since national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is the only airline in the country that is in the IOSA registry.
“We are here to help Indonesia lift its game in safety,” Tyler ensured.
The ministry’s director for airworthiness and flight operations Muzaffar Ismail said that the ministry had yet to decide whether the government would comply with the IOSA in the near future.
“Our main focus now is to revise the government’s civil aviation safety regulations,” he said.
- Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com
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