Saudi Arabia may bar Indonesia airlines over safety

JAKARTA, July 17 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia's civil aviation body has requested talks with Indonesia over air safety in a bid to head off a ban on the Southeast Asian nation's airlines, a transport ministry official said today.

If the ban went ahead, it would be another blow for Indonesia's airline sector after the European Union banned all the country's airlines from its airspace, citing safety worries.

Indonesia's transport ministry had received a letter from Saudi Arabia's General Authority on Civil Aviation (GACA), warning of a possible ban since the body normally followed EU aviation policy, ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said.

''The letter said the same measures adopted by the European Commission may be applied to Garuda operations to the Kingdom (of Saudi Arabia),'' Ervan told Reuters by telephone.

But because of ''strong ties between both countries'' GACA suggested a meeting between officials to explore options and for Indonesia to explain the safety situation, he added.

Every year nearly half a million Indonesians travel to Saudi Arabia, mostly to perform the Muslim haj pilgrimage.

Indonesia's national carrier Garuda currently flies eight times a week to Jeddah and Riyadh.

Garuda said in a statement it has not received any notification related to a possible flight ban, saying it has plans to lay on extra flights to Jeddah due to soaring demand.

The Southeast Asian nation's air safety record has come under scrutiny after two deadly accidents this year.

In March, a Garuda Indonesia plane with 140 people on board overshot the runway in Yogyakarta in Java and burst into flames, killing 21 people.

Two months earlier a plane belonging to budget carrier Adam Air crashed into the sea off Sulawesi island. All 102 on board are presumed dead.

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

Early this month, Indonesia signed an agreement with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to improve air safety, committing itself to implement safety management based on international standards.

Air travel in Indonesia has blossomed since the liberalisation of the sector in 1999, but the rapid growth has raised questions over whether safety has been compromised.

REUTERS SKB MIR KP1525