11/08/2019 16:42

Safety standards: two out of five

[IMG=18749-4368] According to ABC News, Foreign Affairs and Trade Department of the US government announced last week about the nonconformance of Denpasar airport (Bali) to the safety standards set by the International Organization of Civil Aviation. Terrorist act prevention measures got two points out of five. The majority of airlines flying to Denpasar (China Airlines, Japan Airlines, Lion Airlines, Malaysia Airlines among them) have not made minor changes in flight schedules. ‘We have flights to Denpasar from Bangkok, but I have not seen any documents and have not been informed about changes', said Igor Gordievskyi, director of Moscow office of Thai Airways. Russian airlines do not see reasons to worry either. Sergei Bikhal, PR director of ‘Transaero’, which flies to Denpasar from Moscow, considers US announcement to be incorrect: ‘It is not clear what nonconformance they found out. Probably they did not like the fact that passengers are not X-rayed? We have been flying to Denpasar for several years but there have not been problems with safety system'. Australian airline Qantas Airways took the announcement more seriously. Bali is a popular resort among Australian tourists who often became victims of terrorist acts on Bali. ‘Before Christmas flights Australian government expressed their concern and even recommended not to go to Bali', said Qantas Airways representative to a ‘BANKO’ correspondent, ‘Flights were not cancelled but information about lack of proper safety system at the airport became the last straw'. In cooperation with Australian Transport Ministry, Qantas Airways plan to invest into the improvement of safety system of Denpasar airport. It mainly concerns additional baggage check and installation of modern video surveillance system.