Avior Airlines Fokker 50 – Photo by Marco Gonzalez
(BRUSSELS) – The EU Commission has updated the EU Air Safety List of non-European airlines that do not meet international safety standards, and are subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the EU.
The EU Air Safety List list non-European airlines that do not meet international safety standards, and are subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the EU. With today’s update, one airline, Avior Airlines (Venezuela), is added to the list, while two others – Mustique Airways (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and Urga (Ukraine) – are removed following safety improvements.
Avior Airlines (certified in Venezuela) is added to the list due to unaddressed safety deficiencies that were detected by the European Aviation Safety Agency during the assessment for a third country operator authorisation (TCO). On the other hand, Mustique Airways and Aviation Company Urga which are respectively certified in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Ukraine made safety improvements since their inclusion to the Air Safety List in May 2017. This allows them to be removed from the list.
The EU Air Safety List not only helps to maintain high levels of safety in the EU, but it also helps affected airlines and countries to improve their levels of safety, in order for them to eventually be taken off the list. In addition, the EU Air Safety List has become a major preventive tool, as it motivates countries with safety problems to act upon them before a ban under the EU Air Safety List would become necessary.
Following today’s update, a total of 178 airlines are banned from EU skies:
- 172 airlines certified in 16 states, due to a lack of safety oversight by the aviation authorities from these states.
- Six individual airlines, based on safety concerns with regard to these airlines themselves: Avior Airlines (Venezuela), Iran Aseman Airlines (Iran), Iraqi Airways (Iraq), Blue Wing Airlines (Suriname), Med-View Airlines (Nigeria) and Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe).
An additional six airlines are subject to operational restrictions and can only fly to the EU with specific aircraft types: Afrijet and Nouvelle Air Affaires SN2AG (Gabon), Air Koryo (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), Air Service Comores (the Comoros), Iran Air (Iran) and TAAG Angola Airlines (Angola).
