Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Transportation has issued 35 special permits for the use of foreign-registered aircraft, covering 36 helicopters, to bolster efforts in mitigating forest and land fires across several regions.
The ministry’s Director General of Civil Aviation Lukman F. Laisa told ANTARA in Jakarta on Monday that the permits were issued to 11 domestic Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holders, allowing them to deploy the aircraft for firefighting and disaster management.
“The countries of origin are Australia, Russia, the United States, Ukraine, New Zealand, Laos, Vietnam, and Canada,” Laisa said.
He noted that those 11 operators comprise Ersa Eastern Aviation, Genesa Dirgantara, Falcon Patriot Utama, Pegasus Air Service, Whitesky Aviation, Smart Cakrawala Aviation, Elang Nusantara Air, Intan Angkasa Air Service, Volta Pasifik Aviasi, Dabi Air Nusantara, and Derazona Air Service.
To ensure a rapid response to highly dynamic wildfire conditions, the government is providing unprecedented flexibility. Under the special permits, operators can swiftly reposition the helicopters to other affected locations as disaster response needs shift.
Operators are only required to notify the Directorate General of Civil Aviation within 24 hours of the repositioning.
This policy is designed to allow aerial resources to be quickly deployed to areas in need while maintaining strict adherence to applicable aviation safety and security regulations.
Meanwhile, the ministry’s Directorate of Airworthiness and Aircraft Operations will carry out rigorous oversight to ensure the foreign aircraft meet safety standards, including evaluating any technical modifications necessary to support specialized aerial firefighting operations.
Once the certification and technical requirements are fulfilled, flight operations become the responsibility of the respective domestic operators in accordance with their authorizations.
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Translator: Muhammad Harianto, Uyu Liman
Editor: Bayu Prasetyo
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