EU adds 4 airlines to aviation blacklist

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Source: ForexTV.com

EU adds 4 airlines to aviation blacklist
06/20/06 12:11 pm (GMT)

BRUSSELS (AFX) - The European Commission said it has added four airlines to its blacklist of airlines considered to be unsafe, nearly all of which are banned from EU skies.

Blue Wing, based in Surinam, and Sky Gate International, licensed in Kyrgyzstan, are now subject to a total ban, the commission said.

Sudan's Air West is subject to operating restrictions.

Star Jet, based in Kyrgyzstan, has been banned on the initiative of the commission. The EU executive said it was found to be the same company as Star Air, licensed in Sierra Leone and already banned within the EU.

One Libyan airline, Buraq Air -- previously subject to operational restrictions on its cargo activities -- has been withdrawn from the list, as it no longer carries out this type of activity, the commission said.

The commission added that airlines based in Mauritania need not be subject to a ban on operations.

It also said that not all the conditions for lifting the ban on GST Aero, based in Kazakhstan, have been fulfilled.

The initial blacklist was approved by the commission in late March.

EU member states were spurred into action after a string of deadly crashes last year that highlighted the fragmented approach to air safety previously in the 25-nation bloc.

Most of the carriers are based in Africa and there are blanket bans on airlines from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia and Swaziland.

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