"We have sent a letter notifying Garuda on the fine for carrying goods without adding them to the cargo manifest," Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi remarked on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting with transportation ministers of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, and the Philippines in Jakarta on Friday.
In accordance with the standard regulation of flight approval, airlines are required to record all goods and passengers in the flight manifest.
According to the flight manifest, the aircraft had onboard only Garuda Indonesia executives and employees.
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On Tuesday, customs officials reported the discovery of a disassembled Harley Davidson motorcycle and Brompton folding bicycles onboard a new Garuda Indonesia Airbus A330-900 aircraft on arrival from France last month.
Speaking in connection with the alleged smuggling, the minister claimed it will be handled by the customs office.
Sumadi noted that the ministry will work closely with the customs office to step up monitoring on the flight cargo manifest.
State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir had earlier revealed that he will fire Garuda Indonesia president director Ari Askhara after the discovery of a disassembled Harley Davidson motorcycle and Brompton folding bicycles smuggled onboard a new Airbus A330-900 aircraft.
A Harley Davidson motorcycle is sold at between Rp200 million and Rp800 million in the Indonesian market, while a Brompton bicycle costs between Rp50 million and Rp60 million.
The state could incur financial losses of Rp532 million to Rp1.5 billion owing to smuggling of the items.
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Translator: Juwita Trisna Rahayu, Sri Hary
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
