MAPUTO, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Mozambican government announced Friday in Maputo that it will grant nine national airports to private companies, as a method to improve services and attract more customers.

"With the concession of the airports to the private management, it is intended to ensure the efficient management of the infrastructure of Mozambican airports and attract foreign airlines," said Emanuel Chaves, president of the directors' board of Mozambique Airlines (LAM).

Chaves said some small airports will be first conceded to better study the strategies.

In 2014, LAM, the country's only airline, was banned from flying over the European space for two years due to non-compliance with international security rules.

"The public-private strategy is what we are going to follow in order to improve the infrastructure of our airports and offer better prices to passengers," Chaves said, adding that the competition among operators is going to dictate the setting of custom tariffs.

Chaves admitted that the custom tariff of services provided by LAM is high, and many customers have complained about it.

"Mozambique is implementing custom tariff liberalization, depending on new companies that will enter to operate in the domestic market," he said without mentioning specific names of the new companies.

The efforts are aimed at enabling the airports to meet international standards, Chaves said.