The European Union has banned three more airlines from operating in the 25-nation bloc and put restrictions on a fourth, updating its blacklist of carriers to try to boost safety in European skies. The executive European Commission said on Tuesday Suriname-based Blue Wing and Kyrgyzstan's Sky Gate International would be banned from operating in the EU.
The Commission also added Star Jet of Kyrgyzstan to the list of banned carriers because it was the same company as Star Air of Sierra Leone, which had already been banned within the bloc. Those airlines had plans to operate in Europe, said Stefaan de Rynck, spokesman for Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot.
"This is important to prevent them from doing so," de Rynck told a daily briefing.
Sudan's Air West would face operating restrictions on one of its planes. Buraq Air of Libya, which previously faced curbs on its cargo activities, has been withdrawn from the list because it no longer performs those services, the Commission said.
De Rynck said after the changes the list would ban 95 airlines and three would face operating restrictions. The updated list will come into force on Thursday.
The airline bans were based on criteria such as old or poorly maintained aircraft, failure to solve problems identified in inspections, and bad oversight by regulatory authorities. In March, the EU banned a slew of mostly African carriers from European skies to reassure travellers after a spate of fatal airline accidents involving European passengers.
De Rynck said Japan and Australia had contacted the EU to discuss exchanging data from the blacklist. Equatorial Guinea had contacted the Commission with measures to correct the problems, but the changes were so far deemed insufficient, he said.