CANBERRA—Australia on Monday warned its citizens to rethink travel plans to Indonesia following a recent passenger jet crash in Central Java which has cast a shadow over the safety of Indonesian carriers.
Indonesia's Directorate General of Civil Aviation last week released a preliminary assessment of 48 passenger airlines, including national carrier Garuda Indonesia, which found none met international safety criteria, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warned.
"Australians are advised to take the following information into account and check with their travel agents when making travel plans in Indonesia," the advisory said.
The assessment found no airline fully complied with the requirements of the civil aviation safety regulations applied by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Garuda, Merpati Nusantara Airlines, Lion Mentari Airlines and 29 other smaller carriers met minimal requirements, but some measures had not yet been implemented.
Another 16, including Batavia Air, Adam Air and Kartika Airlines, were operating with minimal requirements of civil aviation safety regulations, but some had not been implemented "which may reduce safety".
"Airlines assessed as Category 3 are to be subject to administrative sanctions and are to be given three months notice to improve standards," the Australian advice said.
The warning came almost three weeks after 21 people, including five Australians, were killed when a Garuda Airlines Boeing 747-400 overshot the runway and burst into flames at Yogjakarta airport.
Air travel in Indonesia, a sprawling country of more than 17,000 islands, has grown substantially since liberalisation of the airline industry in 1999 triggered price wars among airlines.
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