More airlines banned from EU skies over safety concerns 

The update of the EU's famed blacklist of airlines banned from European skies due to safety concerns was adopted on 14 November. It is the ninth such update since the blacklist was first established in March 2006.

In addition to the bans on the Cambodian and Angolan airline operators, the Commission also announced its intention to carry out a safety assessment of the Philippine civil aviation authorities in early 2009.

The current list imposes a ban on all carriers from Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon, save for Gabon Airlines and Afrijet. The list also includes bans on operations of eight individual carriers from Afghanistan, Cambodia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Sudan and Ukraine.

Up till now, no EU carrier has been included on the blacklist, although there have been some close calls, notably for the Cypriot airline Ajet (EurActiv 13/10/06). 

Nevertheless, earlier this autumn, Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said announced plans to tighten checks on Europe's airlines following the SpanAir crash in Madrid on 20 August, which killed over 150 people. 

The Commission's services are working with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA ) on a proposal aimed at introducing a minimum number of inspections each year in every member state. 

Reinforced safety inspections could lead to the inclusion of European airlines on the blacklist.