PATA expressed its concern about the potentially damaging impact on the Indonesian travel and tourism industry of last week’s EU ban on Indonesian carriers and called on all parties to immediately re-engage in constructive dialogue to solve the issue.

    Inbound tourism to Indonesia is rebounding strongly, with foreign visitor arrivals through 15 international gateways increasing by 12% to 1.73 million over the first five months of this year. Arrivals to Bali are also up 35% to a record-high 601,000 over the same period.

    “It would be tragic if this recovery was in any way jeopardised by the ban because travel and tourism is such an important driver of the Indonesian economy,” said PATA President & CEO, Mr Peter de Jong.

    International Air Transport Association (IATA) Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific, Mr Mike Barclay (pictured) said IATA was continuing to work with Indonesian aviation authorities to integrate its IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) standards into the country’s aviation regulatory environment.
    IATA has also expanded its Partnership for Safety (PfS) programme to include Indonesia. The PfS programme is designed to assist airlines, including non-IATA members, to prepare for IOSA audits.
    “This is an encouraging development that we hope will help bring about a speedy resolution of the issue,” Mr de Jong said.
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