CANBERRA – Indonesia’s civil aviation head has admitted the nation has an appalling air safety record.
A crash at Yogyakarta Airport in March killed 21 people, including five Australians, and led to outcries about aviation safety in Indonesia.
Last week, the director general of Indonesian civil aviation, Budhi M Suyitno, told a Canberra conference his country had a woeful safety record.
For every one million flights across Indonesia there are 3.77 fatal flights when the global average is 0.25, Dr Suyitno said.
“This is absolutely unacceptable,” he told the conference.
“It is a never ending struggle,” Dr Suyitno said, to identify safety hazards and improve the aviation culture of Indonesia.
“As an island nation aviation is critical to connect and unite our people.”
Dr Suyitno said Indonesia was developing a safety programme that had the backing of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
“We must move from a reactive safety system to a proactive safety system.
“Our goal is to reach zero accidents,” he added.
Meanwhile, it is reported from Jakarta that Garuda Indonesia made a profit of Rp. 218 billion (US$23.7 million) in the period January-September 2007, an increase of 150 percent over the same period in the preceding year. Garuda suffered a loss of Rp. 436 billion (US$47.39 million) in 2006.
