Twice a year, the European Union updates the list of airlines “subject to an operating ban or operating restrictions within the European Union because they do not comply with the standards international security”. This blacklist has existed since March 2006. It now concerns more than 130 airlines from twenty-two different countries. Added to this is the banning of the Pakistani airline Pakistan International Airlines since July 2020 (following the crash of May 22), as well as that of companies from Belarus since June 2021 (in response to the hijacking of Ryanair flight 4978 ). The last update of the EU blacklist was published on June 7, 2023.
Russia has occupied a “place of honor” there since the start of the conflict with Ukraine. In addition to the overflight bans, this war has caused the banishment from April 2022 of 21 Russian carriers. The European Commission explained that this decision reflected “serious safety problems due to Russia’s forced re-registration of foreign-owned aircraft, knowingly allowing them to operate without valid certificates of airworthiness. This is contrary to international aviation safety standards.” This particularly concerns Aeroflot and its subsidiaries Rossiya, Pobeda or Aurora, as well as S7 Airlines, UTair, Nord Wind, Yakutia or Rusline. No less than 500 Western aircraft have been confiscated in Russia.
In addition, Libya, which has been on this blacklist since 2014, could soon benefit from air links with Italy. Economic, technical and cultural ties have remained very strong with the former colony. According to Libyan authorities, air travel between Libya and Italy will resume in September. To confirm.
The update of the EU Aviation Safety List, published every six months, is based on the unanimous opinion of Member States’ experts in the field. This committee is chaired by the Commission with technical assistance from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). This update is supported by the Transport Committee of the European Parliament. Decisions taken under the EU Aviation Safety List are based on international standards, including those of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
As a first consequence, these aircraft (and their passengers) outside the regulatory framework of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) are no longer covered by global insurance companies, as is already the case for the Iran or North Korea. We can then wonder about the quality of maintenance when spare parts that can no longer be imported are lacking. There is indeed the very temporary solution of keeping a few planes on the ground to take spare parts for the benefit of those who fly. In aviation jargon, this means cannibalizing an aircraft.
