INTERVIEW-Indonesia's Garuda seeks lifting of EU ban
24 Oct 2007 11:16:27 GMT Source: Reuters
By Sara Webb JAKARTA, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia's national carrier Garuda said on Wednesday it would appeal to the European Union to be taken off the list of banned airlines because it complies with international safety regulations. Indonesia's transport sector has been hit by several disasters, prompting the EU to ban all 51 Indonesian airlines, including Garuda, from its airspace because of safety concerns. In March, a Garuda aircraft crashed at Yogyakarta airport in Java, killing 21 people, including Indonesians and Australians. The pilot of the plane ignored 15 warnings as he descended too rapidly, a transport safety committee report said on Monday. Emirsyah Satar, Garuda's chief executive, told Reuters in an interview that the pilot and co-pilot of the plane that crashed are still grounded and receiving their pay, but the airline needs to do "a thorough review" of their position. "Garuda has all the systems and procedures in place," Satar said, adding "somehow it was not being executed or complied to" when the plane crashed in Yogyakarta. The EU transport committee will do a site visit in Indonesia in early November, meeting with the authorities and with Garuda officials in order to look at the regulators and regulations, as well as how Garuda manages its safety measures, he said. "I think they should take Garuda out of the list of banned airlines," Satar said, adding the EU is "quite comfortable" with Garuda because the airline is audited by foreign safety regulators. Garuda, which stopped flying to Amsterdam in 2004 because the route wasn't profitable, now wants to fly to Europe to benefit from a recovery in tourism. Satar said Garuda, which reported a loss of 197 billion rupiah ($21.47 million) in 2006, has returned to profit this year by focusing on its most profitable routes, which include Singapore and Perth among the international destinations, as well as Surabaya and Yogyakarta in Java, and Denpasar in Bali. State-owned Garuda is being readied for an initial public offering in 2010, he said, and the government will seek a strategic partner, either foreign or local, to invest in the national carrier. Satar said next week Garuda would announce a net profit for the first nine months of 218 billion rupiah, against a net loss of 436 billion rupiah in the same period a year ago. The number of passengers has risen 9 percent to 6.1 million in the first nine months while the load factor has risen to 78 percent from 71 percent. Full-year net profit is forecast to reach 250 billion rupiah taking into account spending on consultants and new technology. ($1=9,175 rupiah)
