Ban on Indonesia's Airlines Entering US Airspace Lifted
Good news for Indonesia's aviation industry and Indonesian airlines. After a nearly decade-long ban, the US aviation regulator (Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA) finally allows Indonesian airlines to enter US airspace again. The ban was imposed in 2007 due to safety concerns. The FAA announced on Monday (15/08) that the safety status of Indonesia's aviation industry was upgraded by one notch to category 1. This opens doors for Indonesian airlines to serve flight routes to the USA as well as code shares with US airlines.
The decision to lift the ban has a positive impact on the whole aviation industry of Indonesia as trustworthiness rises. In 2007 the FAA had downgraded Indonesia's safety rating to category 2 as there had occurred a series of fatal air-crashes and incidents in Indonesia in the preceding years, while the operational control systems in Indonesia's aviation industry was considered weak. Moreover, audits conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) detected 121 loopholes in the Indonesian air safety oversight system.
Although there still occur fatal air-crashes and incidents in Indonesia (for example the fatal crashes of Indonesian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules in Medan in June 2015 and Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 in the Java Sea in December 2014), the oversight system of Indonesia has improved leading to the lifting of the ban. The audit that was conducted by FAA started in early 2015 and focused on three basic aspects of Indonesia's air transport industry: (1) regulations, (2) operation and (3) airworthiness. Also, Indonesia's human resources working in the aviation industry are now in accordance with international standards.
In June 2016, the European Commission removed bans against three Indonesian airlines (Citilink, Lion Air and Batik Air), meaning that they meet international standards and therefore are allowed to enter the European Union's airspace. Earlier, in 2009 and 2010, the EU had already lifted bans on Garuda Indonesia, Airfast Indonesia, Ekspres Transportasi Antarbenua (Premiair), and Indonesia AirAsia. However, only Garuda Indonesia currently serves flights to Europe.
Indonesia's national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is expected to launch flights to Los Angeles and New York starting from 2017.
Airline Incidents in Indonesia 2004-2016:
| Airline | Type of Plane | Date | Number of Casualties |
| Lion Air | MD-82 | 30 November 2004 | 26 |
| Mandala Airlines | Boeing 737-200 | 5 September 2005 | 148 |
| Adam Air | Boeing 737-400 | 1 January 2007 | 102 |
| Adam Air | Boeing 737 | 21 February 2007 | 0 |
| Garuda Indonesia | Boeing 737-400 | 7 March 2007 | 22 |
| Sriwijaya Air | Boeing 737-200 | 27 August 2008 | 0 |
| Mimika Air | Pilatus PC-6 | 17 April 2009 | 10 |
| Merpati Nusantara Airlines | DHC-6 | 2 August 2009 | 16 |
| Merpati Nusantara Airlines | Boeing 737-300 | 13 April 2010 | 0 |
| Merpati Nusantara Airlines | Xian MA60 | 7 May 2011 | 25 |
| Nusantara Buana Air | CASAC 212 | 29 September 2011 | 18 |
| Sukhoi Superjet | SSJ-100 | 9 May 2012 | 45 |
| Lion Air | Boeing 737-8GP | 13 April 2013 | 0 |
| Merpati Nusantara Airlines | Xian MA60 | 10 June 2013 | 0 |
| Lion Air | Boeing 737–800 | 6 August 2013 | 0 |
| Lion Air | Boeing 737-900ER | 1 February 2014 | 0 |
| Indonesia AirAsia | Airbus A320-216 | 28 December 2014 | 162 |
| Indonesia Air Force | Lockheed C-130 Hercules | 30 June 2015 | 143 |
| Trigana Air | ATR-42 | 16 August 2015 | 54 |
| Aviastar | de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter |
2 October 2015 | 10 |
| Batik Air | Boeing 737-800 | 4 April 2016 | 0 |
Various sources
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