On 18 November 2010, Prof Alan Tan, head of CIL’s Air Law and Policy Programme, was invited by the Indonesian Directorate-General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) to address the Indonesian aviation community on an ASEAN Open Skies Policy. Alan’s involvement arose from the CIL-SAA-McGill Conference on Air Transport held in Singapore in May 2010, during which the Indonesian delegates had requested CIL’s assistance for a follow-up seminar targeted at the aviation landscape in Indonesia. The seminar was attended by senior officials from Garuda and various Indonesian airlines, as well as representatives from the Indonesian government, ICAO and IATA. In his presentation, Alan outlined the liberalization commitments laid down by several ASEAN multilateral agreements and responded to the Indonesian carriers’ concerns over the problems posed by air transport liberalization. In particular, he emphasised the leadership role of Indonesia within ASEAN to forge a common regional response to the increasing aviation clout of China and India. At the same time, he highlighted the fact that an open skies policy within ASEAN brought not just challenges but benefits to Indonesia, including market access for new Indonesian carriers and substantial tourism traffic and inward investment growth for Indonesia.
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