BURAQ removed from EU blacklist

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Source: allAfrica.com
Posted to the web July 5, 2006

Tripoli

A Libyan airline company said that the European Commission has removed it from its blacklist of unsafe carriers.

Buraq said that the restrictions were mainly on its cargo plans.

MD Mohamed Boubeidha said that the company would promote air security standards by giving them priority in its activities.

Boubeidha added that the information used to ban its planes from flying in European airspace was based on inaccurate information on its cargo fleet and that once this was realised, the ban was removed.

He added that Buraq had completed 9121 local flights, carrying 1083347 passengers and 971 international flights with 60534 travellers from November 2001 to March 2006.

The MD said that Buraq, working with Libyan Arab Airlines, was looking to launch several routes to African and European capitals.

The EU issued a blacklist banning 92 airlines from operating its airspace because they failed to meet international safety and operational standards.

Most of the airlines were based in Africa, including 50 carriers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 14 from Sierra Leone and seven from Swaziland.