"At least our transportation will be very good in the future because, in Indonesia, there are so many islands, many remote cities," Director of Airplane Eligibility and Operation at the ministry M. Mauludin said in Tangerang, Banten, on Thursday.
The government's initiatives to support the helicopter transportation mode have included the formulation of a regulation pertaining to helicopter routes between cities and inside cities, he informed. This is to allow easier scheduling of routes and to prevent conflicting schedules, he added.
His administration has also issued airworthiness certificates to helicopter transportation companies for landing in some places.
"Our regulation is ready; all there's left is to inform it along with relevant ministries. But the most important thing is, when we speak of helicopters, we have to have many places for the helicopters to do emergency landing," Mauludin said.
The ministry will also appeal to regional governments to assist in efforts to develop the helicopter transportation scheme in Indonesia, he disclosed.
"Later on, we will work with regional governments, not only in Jakarta, but also in Surabaya, to establish air transportation in metropolitan cities to reduce traffic jams, one method is with air transportation," he disclosed.
He said that such transportation can be utilized for medical evacuation by some agencies to reduce the death toll from accidents.
CEO and founder of Whitesky Group Denon Prawiraatmadja said that Indonesia is among the Asian countries that have great prospects for helicopter scheme development, given its many islands, where there is a need for such transportation.
"Like what Mr. Director said, that the regulation being worked on by the Transportation Ministry is very much so related to the development of helicopter," he remarked.
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Translator: Azmi Syamsul M, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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