The European Commission has removed four Indonesian airlines from its list of carriers banned from taking off or landing in the EU, citing safety improvements.
'Significant improvements and accomplishments of the Indonesian civil aviation authority are recognised in the area of safety,' the Commission said in a statement.
The four carriers - Garuda, Mandala, Airfast and Premiair - had not operated within the EU before the ban was introduced two years ago.
Still, the prohibition has affected the Indonesian tourist industry, as Europeans had been warned not to use the archipelago's airlines on transit routes.
The ban was imposed after a series of air crashes in Indonesia and reports of deteriorating safety standards since deregulation of the country's aviation sector in the late 1990s.
The Commission also said it would allow TAAG Angola Airlines to fly from that country to Portugal, but only with certain aircraft and under strict conditions.
EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani repeated his call for an international blacklist of airlines, sparked by revelations two weeks ago that a Yemenia airliner that crashed near Comoros had raised safety concerns during EU checks.
'It is high time that the international community rethinks its safety policy; those airlines which are unsafe should not be allowed to fly anywhere,' he said in a statement.
'We should gradually move towards an international strategy based on cooperation between countries around the world.'
