Africa Aviation Officials Not Happy With European Union's Decision

By Eddyson Lugangwa Posted 26 March 2006 @ 06:52 pm EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Nairobi (IBTimes.com) - African aviation officials attending a regulatory affairs Conference in Nairobi regretted the European Union's (EU) decision to blacklist 85 African airlines terming it malicious and damaging to the industry.

The African Airline Association (AFRAA) Secretary-General, Christian Folly-Kossi, said the move was intended to taint the image of the rather fragile and struggling African carriers.

"Of the 93 airlines blacklisted by the EU, 85 are African-based carriers. However, it is quite unfortunate to note that none of the blacklisted carriers fly to Europe," said Folly-Kossi.

He revealed that from the list it was quite clear that most of the airlines had no registration numbers and bore no Air Operator Certificates, said Folly-Kossi.

"As much as we appreciate the need to keep the skies safe, it is unfortunate to note that we are dealing with paper airlines. This means those who are being targeted are not on the list," Folly-Kossi said.

He noted that the EU transport commissioner, Jacques Barrot, upon releasing the list, admitted that most of the banned airlines did not fly to Europe.

The list was published on the EU's website and is supposed to be brought to the attention of customers by travel agents, EU officials said. The ban applies to 50 airlines from the Democratic Republic of Congo and aircraft chartered from companies in non-EU countries.

Also blacklisted are cargo and passenger carriers from Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Liberia.

This decision will be enforced by all 25 EU nations, plus Norway and Switzerland.

The EU said some planes used for flights to Europe and possibly elsewhere were "flying coffins," adding that safety controls in the listed nations were too weak.

With such a statement, said Folly-Kossi, the message being sent out to European travellers is "Avoid African airlines, they are unsafe".