Indonesian air passengers will double to 70 million by 2010 when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) implements the Open Sky policy, an official has said.

"The number of air passengers now reaches some 36 million and with the annual growth of 20 percent, we believe it will reach 70 million when the ASEAN Open Sky begins in 2010," Director General of Civil Aviation Budhi Mulyawan Suyitno was quoted on June 20 by leading economic daily Bisnis Indonesia as saying.

The Open Sky policy revokes restrictions in passenger quotas in the flights between capitals of the respective member countries.

Budhi said Indonesia will become a huge market in the regional aviation industry.

"When the Open Sky policy takes effect, we hope a number of local airliners will have stronger competitiveness at the regional level," he said.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.