The EU Air Safety List was updated on 13 December in order to include Air Tanzania. The ban comes as the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) identified safety concerns at the airline, prompting them not to grant Air Tanzania a Third Country Operator (TCO) authorisation.
Air Tanzania’s ban from EU air space won’t have any direct impact on the existing flight schedules. In fact, Tanzania’s national carrier doesn’t currently operate any routes to European destinations. However, the airline had plans to launch new routes to Europe, but the EU has recently denied its request for a TCO authorization.
“The decision to include Air Tanzania in the EU Air Safety List underscores our unwavering commitment to ensuring the highest safety standards for passengers in Europe and worldwide. We strongly urge Air Tanzania to take swift and decisive action to address these safety issues”, Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas said in a statement.
✈️ The EU prevents unsafe airlines from flying anywhere in Europe, ensuring the highest level of air safety for EU travellers.
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) December 13, 2024
Today, we updated our EU Air Safety List, which includes 129 airlines banned for not meeting international safety standards ↓
According to Tanzanian government spokesperson Gerson Msigwa, however, officials from the EU are set to visit the country as part of discussions for the carrier to obtain slots at yet undisclosed EU airports. “EU aviation experts are expected to visit Tanzania soon to complete the vetting process. This inspection will be a crucial step toward granting Air Tanzania the licence to operate in EU airspace”, Msigwa said.
With Air Tanzania added to the EU Air Safety List, 129 airlines are now banned from EU air space. 100 of those, across 15 countries, are on that list due to inadequate safety oversight by the aviation authorities from their countries. The bans on the other 29 airlines are based on serious safety issues identified by EASA, including: 22 airlines certified in Russia, as well as 7 individual airlines from other states – Air Tanzania (Tanzania), Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe), Avior Airlines (Venezuela), Blue Wing Airlines (Suriname), Iran Aseman Airlines (Iran), Fly Baghdad (Iraq) and Iraqi Airways (Iraq). Iran Air and North Korea’s Air Koryo are only allowed to fly to Europe with specific aircraft types.
