Singapore debunks reports of Indonesian airspace management deal

The city-state will still control Riau airspace.

Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs today said that there is no truth to reports which claim that the city-state’s government had no objections to Indonesia’s intention to manage the entire Indonesian airspace.

Singapore currently manages the airspace above Riau and Riau Islands in Indonesia. In a report in CNN-Indonesia on November 24, Indonesian cabinet ministers were quoted as saying that Singapore had no objections to Indonesia’s intention to manage the entire Indonesian airspace and that Singapore supported Indonesia’s intention to take over the airspace in three to four years.

“The report is inaccurate. DPM Teo did not agree to the suggestion. The subject of the Flight Information Region (FIR) came up during the dinner hosted by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan on 23 November 2015. DPM Teo did not, and could not have agreed on such a major issue over a brief informal discussion during dinner,” MFA said in a statement.

“The administration of the FIR is not an issue of sovereignty. It is based on operational considerations for the provision of effective air traffic control services, with paramount priority on aviation safety,” the MFA’s statement stressed.

“This is a complex technical and operational issue under the ambit of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and involves many other countries and airlines which use the busy airspace covered by the FIR. There are many instances where the territorial airspace of a country is managed by the air traffic authorities in another. For example, Indonesia also provides air traffic services in airspace which belongs to other countries,” MFA said.