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EC update airline blacklist

15th July 2010 Please note that an updated Community black list of unsafe airlines has been published on the European Commission's website.

The changes in the black list concern:

Blue Wing Airlines certified in Suriname has been added to the black list. The carrier had already been previously subject to an operating ban within the EU in 2006 and 2007 and has experienced 3 accidents with fatalities over the last two years.

With respect to Indonesia, two carriers have been taken off the blacklist, notably Indonesia Air Asia and Metro Batavia. The two carriers plus Garuda Indonesia, Airfast Indonesia, Mandala Airlines and Ekspres Transportasi Antarbenua have been cleared by the Commission, while all other airlines certified by the Indonesian aviation authority continue to be subject to an operating ban within the EU.

Changes have been effected in respect of Iran Air. Certain types of aircrafts are no longer subject to operation restrictions within the Community. The air carrier is permitted to fly into the EU provided that its operations are strictly limited to their present level (frequency and destinations) with the aircrafts allowed.

The Commission assisted by the European Aviation Safety Agency will monitor the following:

The Commission will monitor very closely the work of the Albanian civil aviation authority in ensuring the safety oversight of all carriers certified in Albania.

he Commission will also closely monitor the safety performance of Air Algérie.

Today, the list includes the following:

Four carriers whose operations are fully banned in the European Union – Ariana Afghan Airlines from Afghanistan, Blue Wing Airlines from Suriname (new), Siem reap Airways International from Cambodia and Silverback Cargo Freighters from Rwanda.

All carriers, with certain exceptions, from 17 countries are banned: Angola with the exception of 1 carrier which operates under restrictions and conditions (TAAG Angola Airlines), Benin, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia with the exception of six carriers (Garuda Indonesia, Airfast Indonesia, Mandala Airlines, Ekspres Transportasi Antarbenua, Indonesia Air Asia and Metro Batavia), Kazakhstan with the exception of one carrier which operates under restrictions and conditions (Air Astana), the Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Republic of Gabon with the exception of three carriers which operate under restrictions and conditions (Gabon Airlines, Afrijet and SN2AG), Philippines, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Swaziland and Zambia.

9 air carriers are allowed to operate under restrictions and conditions - Air Koryo from the Democratic People Republic of Korea, TAAG Angola Airlines for the Republic of Angola, Air Astana from Kazakhstan, Iran Air from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Gabon Airlines from the Republic of Ghana, Afrijet and SN2AG from the Republic of Gabon, Air Service Comores from the Comoros and Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines from Ukraine.

The updated blacklist is available on the following link in all official languages of the EU:

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air-ban/

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