By Chinedu Eze
The European Commission has banned 119 airlines from flying to any European Union (EU) member country for safety reasons.
However, the Commission cleared all air carriers from Indonesia from the EU Air Safety list.
This means that all airlines from Indonesia certified to operate international routes are free to fly to Europe.
The Commission has also introduced a new system where it warned air traffic controllers of member countries to ensure unsafe aircraft are prevented from entering European airspace.
This was contained in a press statement issued by the commission in Brussels recently.
“Today the European Commission updated the EU Air Safety List, the list of airlines that do not meet international safety standards, and are therefore subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union.
“The EU Air Safety List seeks to ensure the highest level of air safety for European citizens, which is a top priority of the Commission’s Aviation Strategy.
“Following today’s update, all airlines certified in Indonesia are cleared from the list, following further improvements to the aviation safety situation that was ascertained in the country,†the statement said.
However, the 119 airlines that were banned from entering the EU skies included 114 airlines certified in 15 states that were affected due to a lack of safety oversight by the aviation authorities in those states and five individual airlines that were affected due to safety concerns.
The Commission also said that an additional six airlines were subject to operational restrictions and could 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).
 EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: “The EU Air Safety List is one of our main instruments to continuously offer the highest level of air safety to Europeans. I am particularly glad that after years of work, we are today able to clear all air carriers from Indonesia.
“It shows that hard work and close cooperation pay off. I am also satisfied that we now have a new warning system to prevent unsafe aircraft from entering European airspace.”
