Arif Wibowo, the chief executive of PT Citilink Indonesia  was appointed as the new Indonesia National Air Carriers Association chairman for the 2013-2016 period.

Arif replaced Emirsyah Satar, the president director of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, which is also the parent company of Citilink, a low cost carrier.

Arif vowed to improve the country’s aviation security and safety, as part of the preparations for the ASEAN Open Sky Policy in 2015.

According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the security and safety of Indonesian aviation sector remains lower than its neighboring rivals like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Until now, only Garuda out of 12 airlines that operate in the country that managed to acquire the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) for its airport operation. Indonesia only has five airports that have been recognized as international airports, including the Soekarno-Hatta airport, the

Kuala Namu airport in North Sumatra, the Djuanda airport in Surabaya, Ngurah Rai airport in Bali and Sultan Hasanuddin airport in Makassar