LAMANRIAU.COM, JAKARTA – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, said that Indonesia will take over the flight control area alias Flight Information Region (FIR) around the Riau and Natuna Islands from Singapore hands gradually (11/10).
It is known, currently air space in the Riau and Natuna Islands is managed by Malaysia and Singapore because of the determination of the air navigation service plots by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) formed before Indonesia’s independence.
The airspace in Batam and Natuna is part of FIR block A. In addition, there are also blocks B and C above Natuna waters. Sector A covers airspace over 8 kilometers along Batam and Singapore. Sector B includes the airspace above Tanjung Pinang and Karimun.
Meanwhile, sector C in the Natuna airspace is divided into two parts, Singapore controls above 24,500 feet, and Malaysia below 24,500 feet. Luhut stated, there were already plans and frameworks for negotiations for air control space between Indonesia and Singapore, although they did not explain in detail the contents of the negotiations.
However, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs said the agreement took place on September 12, 2019. Then, on October 7, 2019 technical teams from each country had met. Luhut hopes that an agreement can be reached as soon as possible after decades of 1946, now only the level of progress has been seen.
Luhut also admitted that the negotiation process took a long time because it needed to provide a solution that was beneficial to both parties. (ksi)
