Brussels, 28/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - Next week the Commission is expected to proceed to the fourth quarterly revision of the black list of airlines banned from flying out of and to the EU. Following recommendations adopted at unanimity by the experts' committee on airline security in the EU, which met on 27 June, the changes the Commission intends to adopt and publish on 6 July are as follows:
All Indonesian airlines are on the list. This decision will indirectly compel most European travel agencies to reorganise their flight correspondence system with Indonesia and means that none of these companies (51 in total, with a total of twenty operating regular flights and thirty charter companies) will not be able to fly to or from European airports. As the list does not refer to countries outside the Union, these companies will not be banned from flying in other countries but under the 26 November 2006 regulation setting up the black list, EU travel agencies will be obliged to inform their customers going to Indonesia (or any other country where companies are on the black list) that the plane ticket that they sell to Bali, for example, with a change at Jakarta and a flight provided by a local company (between Jakarta and Bali) on the black list and therefore does not comply with safety standards. Passengers will always be free to take this flight but if they buy their ticket before the list update they will have the right to request an alternative solution (such as a different route) or even a ticket refund. This demand has to met by the travel agency. The reasons why all these companies were taken into account were purely for technical reasons. The Commission is also expected to totally ban two other airlines: an Angolan passenger company (TAAG Angola Airlines) and a Ukrainian freight company (Volare Aviation Enterprise).
Companies already on the list - restrictions imposed on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) during the final revision (EUROPE 9379) will be reduced. Two other planes (Boeing 747 and the Airbus 310) of this company can now operate in Community territory, as well as the already authorised Boeing 777 fleet. The list of Kirghizstan companies already on the black list will be modified: two companies will be withdrawn due to their having finished flying, while three others, newly set up, will be included in their place.
At the same time, some third countries have unilaterally decided to apply these restrictive EU measures on their own airlines. Russia decided to ban all operations to the EU for four of its passenger airlines (Kuban Airlines, Yakutia Airlines, Airlines 400 and Kavminvodyavia) and to impose restrictions on six other freight operators (Gazpromavia, UTAir, KrasAir, Atlant Soyuz, Ural Airlines and Russyia). Bulgaria decided to take more than 160 non-certified post-Soviet planes off its registers; to remove flying certificates for 5 freight companies (Air Sofia, Bright Aviation Services, Scorpion Air and Vega Airlines; to suspend flights from another freight company (Air Scorpio) and ban Heli Air Services from operating in all member states, as well as in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. These measures were not enough to suspend the safeguard clause imposed on Bulgarian operators in December 2006 (EUROPE 9332). Moldova withdrew certificates from 8 of its operators (Valan, Pecotox, Jetline International, Jetstream, Aeroportul Marilescu, Aeronord, Grioxona and Trimavia). Albania will have three months to show that it has implemented measures necessary to increase the quality of its civil aviation administration. (aby)