‘Flying coffins’ banned from Europe’s airports
Some 95 airlines will not be allowed to touch down in airports in the 25 EU member states due to safety concerns about some of their patched-up planes, including ex-military aircraft.
Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot branded the planes “flying coffins” when he announced the decision, yesterday, in Brussels.
It is the first time a common blacklist of airlines and planes has been drawn up. Until now, individual countries had refused to deal with certain carriers because of their concerns.
Non-EU states could follow suit, with Japan already examining the list.
Mr Barrot warned safety controls in some countries were non-existent or too weak.
None of the airlines are European or American.
They are mainly African (Swaziland, Liberia, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone) with the rest from Thailand (Phuket Air), Kazakhstan, Kyrghistan, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Korea.
More than 50 of the banned airlines are from the vast and virtually roadless Democratic Republic of Congo, which is reliant on air transport. Most of those planes were used by the military in Congo’s recent war.
“Planes used by the military were converted into charter airplanes after the war. Others came from the former Soviet Union and were patched up - they are left over from a previous era,” said Mr Barrot.
The ban comes into effect this weekend and will be revised at least every three months. Companies that show they have reached the international safety standards will be taken off the list.
Travel agents must display the list and can be sued if they book passengers on banned planes without warning.
Most of the 95 companies do not use European airports, so the blacklist is not expected to have a major impact on the industry.
However, other countries are expected to use the list. Japan has already shown an interest.
As a result, countries like the Congo, where just one plane from one company is not on the banned list, could be badly hit.
The EU has spent over €80 million over the past five years helping raise standards and further help will be agreed at a special meeting between the EU and the African Union next month.
Several plane accidents over the past few years, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Europeans, spurred the EU into having a joint blacklist.
