Jakarta, Aug. 24 -- The Ministry of Transportation has issued 35 special permits for the use of foreign-registered aircraft, covering 36 helicopters, to bolster efforts in mitigating forest and land fires across several regions.

The ministry's Director General of Civil Aviation Lukman F. Laisa told ANTARA in Jakarta on Monday that the permits were issued to 11 domestic Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holders, allowing them to deploy the aircraft for firefighting and disaster management.

"The countries of origin are Australia, Russia, the United States, Ukraine, New Zealand, Laos, Vietnam, and Canada," Laisa said.

He noted that those 11 operators comprise Ersa Eastern Aviation, Genesa Dirgantara, Falcon Patriot Utama, Pegasus Air Service...