Jakarta. The Transportation Ministry on Friday suspended 61 domestic flight routes operated by five Indonesian airlines following a week-long investigation prompted by an alleged permit violation involving the crashed Indonesia AirAsia flight.
The ministry earlier banned Indonesia AirAsia from operating between Surabaya and Singapore, saying that the company did not have a permit to fly the route on the Sunday, the day of Flight 8501’s crash.
Although the ministry did not explicitly link the permit to the crash, the discovery prompted an investigation into the prevalence of the practice in Indonesia’s aviation industry.
“We conducted an evaluation and audit. The result is that we found unlicensed flights on 61 [routes],” Minister Ignasius Jonan said during a press conference on Friday, without elaborating on the time period during which violations were found to have occurred.
Jonan said budget carrier Lion Air was the worst offender, with permit violations on 35 of their routes.
Second is Wings Air with 18, flag carrier Garuda Indonesia with four, chartered flight operator Susi Air with three and one for Transnusa.
The figure does not include the incident AirAsia route, the permit for which the transport ministry suspended last week.
“The five carriers will be sanctioned in the form of a suspension of the unlicensed flight [routes],” the minister said.
The carriers will be required to reapply for the necessary licenses if they want to resume service.
Jonan said the scandal is prompting a major overhaul within the ministry.
At least 10 top-ranking officials, including three directors, will be reassigned and a principal aviation inspector has already been suspended from active duty.
“The government felt that a lot of restructuring is needed [to address the issue],” he said.
Similar restructuring will also occur inside airport operator Angkasa Pura and air traffic controller AirNav.
After permit scandal was discovered, Angkasa Pura reassigned two officials; AirNav reassigned four.
“I’ve instructed the Air Transportation Directorate General to increase supervision to ensure regulations are followed,” Ignasius said, adding that he is also planning to impose tighter regulations.
“Two months ago we began conducting a regulatory overhaul in all sectors. But because of this crash, air transportation will be given more [focus],” he said.
To prevent future licensing problems, Jonan said route clearance and permits will now be processed online.
“This month [the online system] will be in place,” the minister said.
AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed on Dec. 28 amid stormy weather as it flew from Surabaya to Singapore, claiming the lives of all 162 people on board.
The Indonesian meteorological agency has said weather was the “triggering factor,” with ice likely damaging the engines of the Airbus A320-200.
Before take-off, the plane’s pilot, Captain Iriyanto, had asked for permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid a major storm.
The request was not approved due to other planes above him on the popular route, according to AirNav, Indonesia’s air traffic control.
Additional reporting from Reuters
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Source: Indonesia
