JAKARTA, INDONESIA - Indonesia's Transport Ministry grounded five small airlines this week because they did not meet safety standards, an official said yesterday.

The ministry gave Helizona, SMAC, Asco Nusa Air, Tri-MG Intra Asia Airlines and Dirgantara Air Service three months to meet minimum safety standards, Budi Mulyawan Suyitno, director-general of air transportation, said.

"Those airlines, with small planes for rent, didn't meet safety standards," the official said. "If within three months they don't show any improvement, we will revoke their air operator's certificate."

He said this move was part of an on-going process to improve the safety standards of Indonesian airlines.

In March, Indonesian budget carrier Adam Air, which has suffered a series of accidents and defaulted on debt payments, had its flights grounded over safety concerns.

Indonesia's airline industry has grown rapidly in the past decade following liberalisation, with the launch of new players and a wider choice of routes across the archipelago.

However, the world's fourth-most populous country has suffered a string of airline disasters in recent years, raising concerns about safety standards and prompting the European Union to ban all Indonesian airlines from its airspace.

In January 2007, an Adam Air plane crashed into the sea off Sulawesi island, with all 102 people on board presumed dead. In March 2007, a Garuda plane carrying 140 people on board skidded off the Yogyakarta runway, killing 21 people. -- Reuters