Government explains FIR deal with Singapore to respond to criticism

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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Ministry of Transport said on Monday that the reason the government has delegated the Flight Information Region (FIR) over the Riau Islands below 37,000ft to Singapore is for the protection of the flight safety as the delegated area is close to Changi Airport airspace.

“The delegation is necessary for flight safety,” Transportation Ministry spokeswoman Adita Irawati said in a Jan. 31 statement.

The deal, according to Irawati, the Singaporean shipping operator is delegated 29 percent of the area, which is near Changi. Within this area, some areas continue to be served by AirNav Indonesia for flights departing from Batam and Tanjung Pinang Airport.

She said it would be dangerous if airspace below 37% could not be delegated, meaning planes taking off from Changi would immediately enter the Jakarta-supervised FIR.

It should be noted, she said, that Indonesia also operates air navigation services in the territories of other countries, such as Christmas Island and Timor Leste.

“The government is very open to contributions, suggestions and even criticisms related to the FIR. But of course we hope that the suggestions and criticisms must be based on correct information, complete and accurate analyses,” she said.

It comes after the bilateral deal was criticized by Professor Hikmahanto Juwana of the University of Indonesia, who said the FIR deal should not have happened. The international law professor said this was potentially against Indonesian Aviation Law No. 1/2009 and needed to be assessed.

“Because some areas under the sovereignty of Indonesia in the height of 0-37,000 are delegated to the Singapore Aviation Authority,” Hikmahanto wrote in a statement on Monday, January 31.

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IMAM HAMDI

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