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Indonesia delays plan to announce airliner's safety rating

Xinhua, February 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Indonesian Transport Ministry said Thursday that it would delay the plan to announce the safety ratings of airliners operating in the country to June from next month, a move aimed at boosting safety in aviation industry, an official said here on Thursday.

Indonesian Transport Minister Ignatius Jonan said that the ministry would freeze license of the airline should it fail to meet the safety standard.

Other airliner would be given opportunity to replace the position of the airliner which fails to meet the standard of safety, the minister added. "Maybe, we will start (announcing the rating) in June."

Jonan announced the plan last month following the crash of AirAsia plane on Dec. 28 in Indonesian waters that killed all 162 people on board.

Coordination with the Indonesian National Air Carrier Association (INACA) would also be undertaken to push for transparency in operation and financing of airliners, according to the ministry.

Indonesia has been paying serious attention to the safety standard of aviation as the country had suffered from a series of air accidents years ago. The European Union imposed a travel ban on many Indonesian airliners in 2007, many of them budget airliners. The ban was lifted two years later with the improvement of safety.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago country with a population of over 238 million and a growing middle class, is a potential market for budget airline industry as the government aims to build air transport to connect over 17,500 islands. Endi