On July 30, officials of Saudi Arabia's aviation watchdog arrived in Indonesia to begin inspections of local airlines concerning their safety record after the European Union recently denied entry of all Indonesian airlines.

Personnel from the General Authority Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia (GACA) visited the Indonesian Transportation Ministry's compound and were received by Indonesia's Director General of Civil Aviation Budhi Suyitno.

Budhi said after the meeting the Indonesian Government would let the Saudi Arabia's five-member team choose the airlines for sampling.

"It's up to them to choose," he told reporters.

The inspection would focus on license and airworthiness of Indonesian passenger planes, he said.

"Basically, we welcome audit team from any country to conduct safety verification here," said Budhi.