Garuda only Indonesia airline to meet top standard

JAKARTA, June 25 (Reuters) - Garuda Indonesia is the only passenger airline to meet the country's top safety standard, the government said today, months after one of the national carrier's planes crashed, killing 21 people.

After an audit of the nation's airlines following a string of transport disasters, only Garuda achieved the top ranking out of three levels, while Adam Air was given a second grade.

An Adam Air jet carrying carrying 102 people disappeared in January.All on board are presumed dead.

Garuda had improved safety standards after one of its planes overshot the runway and burst into flames in March, said Budi Mulyawan Suyitno, the director-general of civil aviation.

The Yogyakarta crash killed 21 people, including five Australians.

''They were quick to improve technical, material and personnel support,'' he told a news conference.

Garuda was placed in the second grade soon after the March accident.

In total, 19 of 21 scheduled passenger and cargo airlines audited by the transport ministry were rated in the second category, considered to have met minimal international safety standards, Suyitno said.

One carrier, Jatayu Airlines, had its licence revoked because it had been idle since early 2006, Suyitno said.

The survey was based on criteria such as surveillance, ramp checks, personnel, department safety, number of accidents and number of serious incidents.

Indonesia has been under pressure to improve its transport safety after a string of air and ferry accidents in recent months.

In April, the United States advised its citizens to avoid flying Indonesian airlines, saying there were serious concerns about their safety standards.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has downgraded Indonesia's safety oversight category from 1 to 2, indicating it was not meeting International Civil Aviation Organisation standards.

Air travel in Indonesia, a country of more than 17,000 islands, has blossomed since the liberalisation of the airline industry in 1999, which triggered price wars among airlines.

The rapid growth raised questions over whether safety has been compromised and if aviation infrastructure and personnel can cope with the huge increase in traffic.

Two major ferry disasters this year also killed hundreds of people, while rail accidents on an ageing system built during the Dutch colonial era occur frequently.

REUTERS SKB VC1858