No Saudi Ban on Indonesian Airlines

By Barrie | July 18th, 2007 | No Comments

Saudi Arabia has so far not banned Indonesian airlines from flying in its air space but expressed willingness to meet Indonesian civil aviation authorities about the European Union`s prohibition, Transportation Minister Jasman Syafii Djamal said.

“They have only sent a letter to the air transportation directorate general saying Saudi Arabia`s Civil Aviation Authority is willing to meet with its counterpart, the Indonesian civil aviation authority,” the minister said according to the article in the Antara News.

He said Saudi Arabia wanted to know in detail the reason for the European Union`s decision to bar Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe.

“The meeting will be held soon. We have sent a message to Saudi Arabia that Indonesia is ready to have a meeting. We have even invited them to come to Indonesia to see themselves what Indonesia is doing and will do to improve the performance of its airlines,” the minister said.

He said, if necessary, Indonesia would also show Saudi Arabia the flight safety rating it had obtained, including the fact that national flag carrier Garuda`s flight safety conditions had been ranked first.

Therefore, he said, before the meeting with Saudi Arabia took place, there was no ban on Indonesian flights to the Middle East.

He said his ministry had also held meetings with the civil aviation authorities of several other countries like the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea in connection with the European Union`s flight ban.