Brussels, 22/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission adopted its blacklist of 92 airlines which are banned from operating on Community territory, most of which are African airlines. The list will be published in the Official Journal on 24 March and will enter into force on 25 March. This list will allow the European Union to be able to fight the practice of using companies under flags of convenience, which may represent a danger to the safety of the citizens and unfair competition for other air carriers, Jacques Barrot, Commissioner for Transport, told a press conference.
Under the regulation adopted on Wednesday, "all airlines certified by the competent authorities" of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Swaziland will be hit by a general operating ban within the European Union. The Commission has identified fifty airlines from DRC, eleven from Equatorial Guinea, three from Liberia, thirteen from Sierra Leone and six from Swaziland.
The following airlines will also be affected by a general operating ban: Air Koryo (North Korea), Air Service Comores (Comores), Ariana Afghan Airlines (Afghanistan), BGB Air and GST Aero Air Company (Kazakhstan), Phoenix Aviation and Reem Air (Kyrgyzstan), Silverback Cargo Freighters (Rwanda) and Phuket Airlines (Thailand).
Three further air carriers will be subjected to "operating restrictions", which means that some of their aircraft will be banned within the Community: Air Bangladesh (Bangladesh), Buraq Air (Libya) and Hewa Bora Airways (RDC).
This makes a total of 95 airlines and nearly 300 aircraft which will be affected by the regulation. All of these airlines do not necessarily fly within the European Union, but according to the European Commission, it is essential to make sure that none of them are used as subcontractors by other airlines not included on the Community blacklist. The Commission also insists that the list was not the object of any bargaining between the Member States, even though "there were debates about some of the airlines", Mr Barrot explained. These include the airline Air Mauritanie (which featured on the UK blacklist), which will be "temporarily authorised to fly into the EU", pending an audit to be carried out in two months' time by the United Kingdom, France, Spain and the Commission.
The Community list was drawn up last week by a committee made up of experts from the 25 Member States of the EU, on the basis of information sent forward by the Member States and using common criteria. It will replace the national blacklists of the Member States. It will be updated as often as necessary, and at least every three months, but an emergency procedure is also provided for under the regulation. This procedure allows a Member State to bring in immediate operating bans against an airline on its territory. The Commission will then examine the situation to determine whether the ban is justified and applicable to the whole of the Community.
This list will have a "contagious effect", particularly within the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), said Mr Barrot. It will be added to by a regulation, which is currently on the table at the Council and the European Parliament, allowing the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to issue licences to air carriers from third countries wanting to fly within the Community, Commissioner Barrot added. The Commission also has plans to revise directives 1994/56 and 2003/42 on investigations to be carried out in case of aviation accidents in 2007.
The regulation establishing the Community list of air carriers which are banned from operating within the Community and the regulation on rules for the implementation of this list, which were adopted on Wednesday, follow on from regulation 2111/2005 of 14 December 2005 providing for such a list to be drawn up, and the provision of better information to airline passengers on the identity of the air carrier they are flying with. This regulation was adopted further to the tragic accident involving a Boeing belonging to the Egyptian airline Flash Airline, in January 2004. This airline is not, however, present on the Community blacklist, because it has since gone bankrupt, said Mr Barrot.