Flying in Indonesia on Aussie licence

[aphexau]

Booked a holiday in Jan to Indonesia and was looking to hire a single engine aircraft and do some flying around the country. Has anybody got any experience with Indonesia DGCA validating a foreign PPL? Is it just paperwork like other countries?

I know the conversion/validation for a foreign CPL is a bit comprehensive and time-consuming, but ICAO rules for PPL means that it *shouldn't* be too complicated....right?

Also, are there any operators or aircraft owners in Indo who will private hire aircraft?

Ive been trying to access the DGCA website for the past week but its down here in Australia :(

[aphexau]

Bwahahaha .. sorry, couldn't hold myself back. The policy in Indonesia is, why make things easier when you can make it so much harder?

I used to fly commercially in Indonesia for 6 years, and part of that time was as a GA flight instructor. Not once in that 6 years did I see a foreign PPL flying. We had one foreigner who was a long time resident in Indonesia who tried to convert his UK PPL. He took some flying lessons with us, but after 3 or 4 flights he gave up the idea. The DGCA there is not the easiest to deal with and they enforce restrictions on foreigners flying there such as security clearances that are only valid for 3 months at a time. You'll also be hard pressed to find any place that would hire you a light aircraft to fly completely on your own. They may allow you to fly with an instructor by your side, however, but even such 'joy flights' will be out of the scope of a flight school's AOC.

If you wish to do private flying in the region, then Malaysia is more accommodating.

Thank you so much for your reply. I guess fun in the skies above Indoland is out of the question then! What a shame really, for such a beautiful country...