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The government has postponed a request to the European Union to lift its ban on four more Indonesian airlines pending the resolution of internal problems and a thorough evaluation, a civil aviation chief said over the weekend.

Herry Bhakti Singayuda, director general of civil aviation at the Ministry of Transportation, said that of the four airlines scheduled to be proposed to the EU’s aviation commission, one still had not met the government’s requirements.

“Possibly we will submit their reports in March,” he said.

The government had originally planned to submit a request to the EU in January asking that it lift its ban on Lion Air, Batavia Air, Indonesia AirAsia and charter company Travira Air. However, Herry said Jakarta-based Travira Air had still not met all of the requirements set out by officials.

“We are reviewing the airline because it has not installed some flight equipment [required by the International Civil Aviation Organization],” he said.

The EU imposed a blanket ban on all Indonesian airlines in 2007, based on their failure to meet ICAO safety requirements.

In July, the EU removed restrictions on flagship carrier Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines, Airfast and PrimeAir.

The move was in response to what the European Commission, the EU’s regulatory arm, deemed “significant improvements” by the Indonesian civil aviation authorities.

Travira Air, Herry said, could be dropped from the submission if it failed to install the required equipment by February.

According to ICAO Civil Aviation Safety Regulations, every aircraft must be equipped with four sensor systems that allow it to detect nearby objects such as mountains, steep terrain or other aircraft. Airlines must also install a bulletproof cockpit door on each jumbo jet.

Herry said the ministry would hold a teleconference with the EU next week, to review and evaluate the first four airlines on which the ban had been lifted.

“After that, we will ground any aircraft that still do not have the [required] safety equipment,” he said.

Edward Sirait, a spokesman for Lion Air, said that even though it had no plans to fly to Europe, it was important for the ban to be removed. “It proves that our airline complies with safety regulations,” he said.

Emirsyah Satar, chairman of the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association and the CEO of Garuda Indonesia, said the government should allow more time for airlines to meet the equipment requirements.

“We will ask for a dispensation to give our member more time to install the safety equipment,” he said.

He added that there should be no further excuses for the EU not to remove the ban on other Indonesian airlines.