Indonesia’s aviation authorities will press ahead with plans to require all commercial airlines to operate at least 10 aircraft or face closure.
Muzaffar Ismail, director of airworthiness and flight operations at the Transportation Ministry, said a 2009 law is already in place requiring airlines to own at least five aircraft and lease the remaining five.
"We have conveyed this to them. They have all expanded, so they should understand. If they don’t meet the requirement by June 30, we’ll just halt their operations. We will not postpone implementation," Muzaffar said.
Muzaffar said the ministry has given airlines a stark choice: meet the aircraft quota, merge with another airline, or face losing permission to fly.
The regulation was implemented to avoid major service disruption and airline collapses, such as the 2008 bankruptcy of Adam Air, which ceased operations after several air accidents.
Indonesian authorities have moved to intensify efforts to audit airline safety after the AirAsia plane crash in December.
Official audits will start next month and all commercial airlines will be given a safety rating in September, transport minister Ignasius Jonan said.
