African Airlines Association Upset over EU Blacklist

African Airlines Assn. stated its "concern" over the EU's latest blacklist, noting that the list of airlines banned from European airspace for safety reasons heavily penalizes Africa-based carriers. The 13th update of the list was announced late last month. AFRAA said "13 of the 17 countries affected by the EU ban are from Africa, with a total of 111 African airlines 'blacklisted' . . . Air safety is AFRAA's number one priority and we are the first to admit that Africa needs to improve its air safety record. However, while the EU list may be well-intended, its main achievement has been to undermine international confidence in the African airline industry."

AFRAA Secretary General Nick Fadugba said the "ultimate beneficiaries" of the list are "European airlines which dominate the African skies to the disadvantage of African carriers." The organization pointed out that "the majority" of African airlines banned from the EU "have never operated scheduled flights to Europe, do not plan to do so and have no aircraft with the range to fly to any EU state." It added that the list contains "many airlines that only exist on paper and are not operational." Rather than improving EU airspace safety, the list serves unfairly to undermine confidence in African airlines generally, AFRAA asserted.

(AirTransportWorld - ATWOnline News)