Helicopters from 8 Countries Deployed to Help Tackle Forest and Land Fires in Indonesia

Forest and land fires (karhutla) have once again become a serious concern for the Indonesian government. As a rapid response, the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) has officially issued 35 permits for the use of foreign-registered aircraft to support karhutla firefighting operations in various parts of the country, including Kalimantan, which has long been one of the areas most prone to fires.

35 Permits for 11 AOC Holders

Kemenhub's Director General of Civil Aviation, Lukman F. Laisa, explained that the permits were granted to 11 domestic Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holders. The eleven airlines/operators are:

1. Ersa Eastern Aviation
2. Genesa Dirgantara
3. Falcon Patriot Utama
4. Pegasus Air Service
5. Whitesky Aviation
6. Smart Cakrawala Aviation
7. Elang Nusantara Air
8. Intan Angkasa Air Service
9. Volta Pasifik Aviasi
10. Dabi Air Nusantara
11. Derazona Air Service

Through this facilitation scheme, the AOC operators listed above are given an easier path to operating aircraft—particularly helicopters—that are registered abroad, while still being operated under the supervision of Indonesia's aviation authority.

Forms of Facilitation Provided by Kemenhub

Kemenhub is not only issuing administrative permits, but is also providing several forms of operational support so that the karhutla response can run faster and more safely. Some of these forms of facilitation include:

Acceleration of the operational permit process for foreign aircraft Operational support in the field during the assignment period Flight safety oversight to ensure that all operations comply with national and international aviation standards.

A total of 35 permits have been issued, involving 36 helicopters from eight countries, namely Australia, Russia, the United States, Ukraine, New Zealand, Laos, Vietnam, and Canada.

This air fleet support is expected to strengthen firefighting operations, particularly in areas that are hard to reach by land. However, handling karhutla cannot rely on firefighting alone. Prevention, monitoring, preparedness, and cooperation among various parties remain an important part of reducing the risk of forest and land fires in Indonesia.

Source: Pikiran Rakyat