On 16 April 2019, the European Commission updated the EU Air Safety List, the list of non-European airlines that do not meet international safety standards, and are therefore subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union.

The update of the Air Safety List is based on the unanimous opinion of the aviation safety experts from the Member States who met from 2 to 4 April within the EU Air Safety Committee (ASC), chaired by the European Commission with the support of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The assessment was made according to international safety standards, and notably the standards promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Following the update,Angola’s national carrier TAAG Angola Airlines, as well as Heli Malongo, have been released from the List. On the other hand, all the air carriers from Moldova, with the exception of Air Moldova, Fly One andAerotranscargo, have been included in the List due to a lack of safety oversight by the civil aviation authority of Moldova.

The EU Air Safety Listnow includes 120 airlines: 114 of them are included in the List because they are certified in 16 States with a lack of safety oversight by the national aviation authorities, and the remaining six because of safety issues related to the airlines themselves (Avior Airlines, Iran Aseman Airlines, Iraqi Airways, Blue Wing Airlines, Med-View Airlines andAir Zimbabwe). An additional four airlines are subject to operational restrictions and can only fly to the EU with specific aircraft types: Afrijet (Gabon),Air Koryo (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), Air Service Comores (the Comoros)andIran Air (Iran). 

Further information is available at the following LINK.

Sara Capruzzi