JAKARTA – It keeps getting worse for Indonesian carrier Adam Air.
The national transport ministry has revoked Adam Air’s operational licence, citing safety concerns.
As reported in TravelMole Asia this week, Indonesia’s transportation ministry had originally given Adam Air 21 days to fix its safety problems.
Now transport ministry chief Budhi Muliawan Suyitno has told reporters that Adam Air planes are grounded.
Suyitno said the decision to remove the beleaguered airline’s permission to fly was based on the results of a quarterly safety evaluation, which found it made “violations that could put passengers’ safety at risk”.
The airline would be grounded until it was evaluated again in another three months, and would have its air operator certificate – a separate safety certification – permanently removed if no improvements were found.
The decision comes in the wake of financial turmoil at the airline after its latest safety incident, which saw an Adam Air Boeing 737-400 with 175 people on board skid off the runway in foul weather in Batam last week.
That prompted a private consortium led by PT Bhakti Investama to withdraw its 50 per cent stake in the airline, citing dissatisfaction with its safety performance.
The head of corporate communications for Adam Air, Danke Drajat, earlier denied the airline was on the verge of a shutdown due to financial difficulties.
Drajat did, however, confirm that only 14 of the airline’s 23 aircraft were currently operating, with the remainder undergoing “routine” inspections.
Speaking to Bisnis Indonesia, he said: “If there are those who say we (Adam Air) will stop operations next week, that is only gossip.â€
It seems the gossip was spot on.
