JAKARTA: The European Union will maintain a ban on all Indonesian airlines flying into its airspace because of safety concerns, the European Commission said Thursday.

The EC and EU’s Air Safety Committee unanimously turned down a request by three Indonesian airlines to be the first in a “fast-track” plan to be removed from the regional grouping’s blacklist, a statement said. The decision means all 51 Indonesian airlines remain banned from EU airspace.

Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and domestic carriers Mandala and Airfast were found to have improved safety standards but could not be confirmed as safe enough for EU skies, the committee said.

Despite significant efforts to improve safety standards, “Indonesian authorities have still not developed and implemented an efficient oversight programme on any of the carriers under their regulatory control,” it said.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation had also not yet been able to assess measures taken by Indonesia to improve safety standards, the statement said.

Indonesia had earlier in the year expressed confidence the fast-track programme would see a small number of airlines return to EU skies by the end of July.

Garuda in May was declared fit to fly by the International Air Transport Association, boosting hopes it could escape the ban.

Indonesia last year launched a programme to improve air safety standards after the EU banned all of its airlines from flying in its airspace following a string of fatal accidents.

An Adam Air plane crashed into the sea off Indonesia’s Sulawesi island in January 2007 due to pilot error, killing everyone on board. The airline has since been banned from flying on safety grounds.

Two months later, a Garuda jet burst into flames on landing in Central Java, killing 21 people.—AFP