Garuda seeks help to comply with EU norms
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Garuda Indonesia may seek help from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to comply with European Union (EU) air safety standards, reports said.
“Garuda has talked to KLM for consultancy to help comply with the European (airline) standard,” Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla was quoted saying by Reuters.
told reporters.
The development comes after t he EU refused to lift its entry ban on 51 Indonesian airlines, including the national carrier.
“We should not misunderstand this. Don’t get angry with them. This is a good opportunity to push ourselves to resolve this problem,” the Vice President was quoted saying.
“The European Union standard is higher, therefore we must adjust ourselves should we want to fly there.”
Indonesia has suffered from a number of airline accidents in recent years which has raised questions about its safety standards.
A Garuda plane crashed while landing at Yogyakarta in March, killing 21 people. In January, 102 people aboard an Adam Air jet were killed when it plunged into the sea off Sulawesi.
The EU banned the airlines in June this year.
An EU team was in Jakarta last month to review the ban. An EU team will be back in three months’ time to conduct another review.
Although Indonesian airlines don’t fly to EU member states, the ban has hurt tourist traffic coming to Indonesia which might involve travel on domestic airlines.
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