On June 1st, the European Commission updated the current EU Air Safety List, which is the list of airlines that are subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union because they do not meet international safety standards. Following the update, one additional Russian certified airline, “I Fly”, has been added to the EU Air Safety List.
I want to underline that this decision is not another sanction against Russia.
Adina Vălean, EU Commissioner for Transport
The EU Air Safety Committee’s decision is in continuity with the previous addition of 20 Russian certified airlines in April, which had knowingly allowed flights without valid certificates of airworthiness. Doing so is in breach of international aviation safety standards. As of today, 22 Russian certified airlines are on this list.
“Following the decision taken in April to include 20 Russian airlines that operated foreign-owned aircraft without a valid Certificate of Airworthiness, another airline was put on the EU Air Safety List,” said Adina Vălean, EU Commissioner for Transport. “The Commission closely monitors all Russian airlines that have foreign-owned aircraft without a valid certificate of airworthiness in their fleet, added illegally by Russia to its Register. As I already mentioned in April, I want to underline that this decision is not another sanction against Russia; it has been taken solely based on technical and safety grounds.”
Taking into account today’s update, a total of 118 airlines are banned from EU skies.
- 90 airlines certified in 15 different States (Afghanistan, Angola (with the exception of 2 airlines), Armenia, Congo (Brazzaville), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Libya, Nepal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone and Sudan), due to inadequate safety oversight by the aviation authorities from these States.
- 22 airlines certified in Russia, as well as 6 individual airlines from other States, based on serious safety deficiencies identified: Avior Airlines (Venezuela), Blue Wing Airlines (Suriname), Iran Aseman Airlines (Iran), Iraqi Airways (Iraq), Med-View Airlines (Nigeria) and Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe).
Two additional airlines are subject to operational restrictions and can only fly to the EU with specific aircraft types: Iran Air (Iran) and Air Koryo (North Korea).
The EU Air Safety List actually contains two lists: The first list (Annex A) includes all airlines banned from operating in Europe. The second list (Annex B) includes airlines that are restricted from operating under certain conditions in Europe. Both lists are updated regularly and published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Before taking any action based on the information in these lists, all users should ensure they have the latest version.
The update on June 1st was based on the unanimous opinion of Member State aviation safety experts, who met from 17-19 May 2022 under the auspices of the EU Air Safety Committee, via video conference. The committee is chaired by the Commission with support from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. The update has the support of the European Parliament’s Transport Committee. Decisions under the EU Air Safety List are based on international safety standards, and notably those of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
