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JAKARTA, INDONESIA - INDONESIAN officials met counterparts from the European Union (EU) on Tuesday in an effort to get the bloc to lift a blanket ban on Indonesian airlines from flying in its airspace, officials said.
European officials refused to comment on the likelihood of a future lift in the ban, but said discussions over allowing Indonesian airlines to fly to the EU in return for improved airlines safety standards had been positive.
'We had really, really good discussions,' Matjaz Sinkovec, the representative of current EU presidency Slovenia said.
Indonesia last year launched a programme to improve air safety standards after the EU in June banned the country's 51 airlines from flying in its airspace following a string of fatal accidents.
Indonesia has proposed the EU accept a 'fast-track' programme for four airlines, including national flag carrier Garuda, to be re-admitted before other Indonesian carriers.
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
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