islandflyer
14th Mar 2008, 09:36
Looking through fleet listings, I just noticed Garuda has been flying European aircraft for a couple of months, apparently leased from Futura / Spain. They are still registered in Spain / Ireland (B737-800 EI-DMZ and EC-JDU). Does anyone know if these are leased ACMI or if Garuda crews are flying them? How does the EU look upon this, with Garuda as a banned carrier flying aircraft registered in a member country? Would these two aircraft now also be banned?
PK-KAR
14th Mar 2008, 19:15
They're leased ACMI.
As long as it doesn't fly into European airspace with a Garuda flight number, it'll get in. As long as it's maintained to the applicable standard of Futura, it can get in. In fact, there's no ban on Indonesian aircrew from flying into European airspace. The ban applies to airlines under the regulatory oversight of the Indonesian DGAC.
So the 2 738s from Futura are piloted by Futura crew, engineering provided by Futura and/or Garuda to Futura standards, Garuda cabin crew, dispatchers, loadmasters, ground handling,etc.
In fact, during Hajj, Garuda operated A330s and 767s from MYT and TUI... it remained on the European registry, operated and maintained by the original carrier, and when it left Indonesia to enter European airspace, it did not use a Garuda flight number. Those planes are under ACMI leases through the Hajj period, with cabin crew from Garuda, engineering from the original carrier, with 3rd party (Indonesian) dispatchers (using standard plans of the original carrier), load masters and ground handling...
The short answer to your question is: EU won't look at these planes with disgust when they return to Europe.