The European Commission has banned all Afghan airlines from entering European airspace due to their poor safety record.
The announcement came as part of an update to the EC’s list of blacklisted airlines made earlier this week.
Previously only one Afghan airline had been on the no-fly list, Ariana Afghan Airlines, but the commission extended the ban to all Afghan airlines due “the safety deficiencies identified in its system to oversee civil aviation and on several carriers.”
One Afghan air carrier, Kam Air, is also banned at the national level in the country.
“Where we have evidence that air carriers are not performing safe operations or where the regulatory authorities fail in their obligation to enforce the safety standards we must act to ensure there will be no risks to safety,” Commission Vice President Siim Kallas, responsible for mobility and transport, said in a press release.
Before the expected ban on all Afghan carries was made public, a European official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters “at present, Afghanistan still has none of the basics: no aircraft registry, no certification, no inspection, no enforcement—in short, no regulation at all.”
In May, a Pamir Airways passenger plane crashed in the mountains near Kabul killing all 43 people on broad.
The EC says it is ready to help Afghanistan reform its civil aviation system to improve its safety practices along with the International Civil Aviation Organization.
In addition to Afghanistan, there are 15 other states whose entire fleets are on the ban list including Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Zambia. Another three states are mostly to be banned with some exceptions, including Indonesia. A handful of individual airlines are also on the list.
The EC removed nine Kazakh airlines from the blacklist not because of improved practices, but Kazakh authorities informed the EC that the carries had their air operator certificates revoked.
A few airlines, including North Korean Air Koryo, Ghana’s Airlift International, Gabon Airlines, Iran Air, Angolan Airlines and Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines are allowed to operate in Europe under strict restrictions.
The announcement came as part of an update to the EC’s list of blacklisted airlines made earlier this week.
Previously only one Afghan airline had been on the no-fly list, Ariana Afghan Airlines, but the commission extended the ban to all Afghan airlines due “the safety deficiencies identified in its system to oversee civil aviation and on several carriers.”
One Afghan air carrier, Kam Air, is also banned at the national level in the country.
“Where we have evidence that air carriers are not performing safe operations or where the regulatory authorities fail in their obligation to enforce the safety standards we must act to ensure there will be no risks to safety,” Commission Vice President Siim Kallas, responsible for mobility and transport, said in a press release.
Before the expected ban on all Afghan carries was made public, a European official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters “at present, Afghanistan still has none of the basics: no aircraft registry, no certification, no inspection, no enforcement—in short, no regulation at all.”
In May, a Pamir Airways passenger plane crashed in the mountains near Kabul killing all 43 people on broad.
The EC says it is ready to help Afghanistan reform its civil aviation system to improve its safety practices along with the International Civil Aviation Organization.
In addition to Afghanistan, there are 15 other states whose entire fleets are on the ban list including Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Zambia. Another three states are mostly to be banned with some exceptions, including Indonesia. A handful of individual airlines are also on the list.
The EC removed nine Kazakh airlines from the blacklist not because of improved practices, but Kazakh authorities informed the EC that the carries had their air operator certificates revoked.
A few airlines, including North Korean Air Koryo, Ghana’s Airlift International, Gabon Airlines, Iran Air, Angolan Airlines and Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines are allowed to operate in Europe under strict restrictions.
