Garuda Indonesia`s subsidiary PT GMF AeroAsia meets the requirements and procedures of the maintenance of A320 aircraft according to the civil aviation authority standards of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

The conclusion was made on the basis of the audit by two EASA auditors Bruno Faucher and Emmanuel Heugas, Fuad Abdullah said in his capacity as VP Quality Assurance & Safety of PT GMF AeroAsia in Jakarta Monday.

He told ANTARA here that the European civil aviation authority agreed to a change in rating of the maintenance of A320 aircraft following an audit at the GMF from March 2 to 7, 2010.

“According to the result of the audit, our company meets all the EASA conditions for the maintenance of A320 planes. The five-day audit covers all aspects of maintenance like personnel, facilities, training, equipment and procedures,” he said.

He said that one of the EASA findings is related to personnel quality for Non Destructive Testing-NDT. Under the EASA requirements, NDT personnel need to be qualified according to the European Standard 4179:2000 (EN 4179), or national standard.

But as Indonesia still has no such standard, EASA suggested Indonesia to as for a European qualification or from other countries.

Richard Budihadianto said increasing a rating of A320 is an important asset in business development, especially in aiming at the A320 maintenance market.

The number of A320 aircraft on the domestic and international market continued to increase in line with the increasing number of operators of this type of plane. The number of A319/A320 planes in Southeast Asia had reached 181 units.

In the last five years, the number of A320 and B737-NG aircraft in Indonesia had been increasing in line with the increase in the number of operators of these planes. Many airline companies have replaced their planes with these aircraft. Three airline companies in Indonesia are currently operating 24 A319/320 planes.

Source : Antara