A Global Blacklist for Unsafe Airlines?

After a Yemeni airliner crashed off the coast of the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros yesterday with 153 people on board, EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani has called for a worldwide blacklist of unsafe airlines. The European Union has a blacklist based on severe controls in Europe and it has worked pretty well. However, this list is only valid in Europe.

The European Aviation Safety Agency will now try to hasten the application of air safety rules for operators coming from non-EU countries. It also said that a European air safety conference would be organised in the quickest possible time to determine the training needs of people such as pilots and air traffic controllers.

The regularly updated EU’s blacklist, contains the names of more than 200 airlines or companies of concern which are either prohibited from operating in Europe or only allowed under strict regulations. Majority of these restricted airlines operate out of Africa, mainly in Angola, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Swaziland. Some of them do not operate in Europe since that would have their operations scrutinized by the European Aviation Safety Agency and might prove detrimental to business.

Source: news.com.au