On July 6, European Union (EU) Ambassador to Indonesia Jean Breteche met with a senior transport official to deliver a letter on EU's decision to ban all 51 Indonesian airlines from flying to the region.

He was received by Director General of Civil Aviation Budhi Suyitno.

"The flight ban is entirely based on safety reasons, there are no political motives at all," Breteche was quoted by the national Antara news agency as saying.

"The European Commission has conducted monitoring into the aviation safety condition in Indonesia early in 2007 over reports of a number of plane accidents in Indonesia."

He said the ban also was imposed on several airlines from Angola, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Russia and Moldova.

"We are hopeful that the ban will lead airlines and authorities concerned to take important actions to improve aviation safety," he said.