The European Commission says all Indonesian airlines, including national carrier Garuda, will be banned from flying to the European Union (EU) within a week, updating a “blacklist” of carriers deemed unsafe.
Kerry Timms of Garuda in Sydney told The Mole this morning that while Garuda did not currently to Europe, they did fly to the Middle East and had plans to fly into Europe next year.
He added that it appears that the EU authorities are comfortable with the response of the DG for civil aviation in Indonesia, so this is not a ban on Garuda, but a ban if Indonesian airlines, none of which fly to Europe.
He also said that Garuda had now been upgraded to a category one airline and that they are totally comfortable with all the company’s processes and that Garuda’s standards are world class.
He said, “We are very comfortable with our training procedures and personnel with regard to safety and we will continue to work on that as it is very important to us and we have absolute confidence in all aspects of Garuda’s safety.”
Kerry added, “We now operate five times a week to Bali and renewed confidence in Bali is driving excellent loads from Sydney and forward bookings are looking good, with passengers booking earlier and immediately when specials come out.”
Report by The Mole
