Kazakhstan air companies are in EU black list

Kazakhstan air companies, except for Air Astana, got into the EU black list again, Tengrinews.kz reports citing the press-release of the European Commission. This is the 19th time the European Commission updates the air safety list. This time the list includes 279 airlines from 21 countries. Air Astana also has restrictions for some of its airplanes. The ban-list also includes air companies of Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon (with the exception of three carriers that operate under restrictions and conditions), Indonesia (with the exception of six carriers), Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Mauritania, Mozambique, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Swaziland and Zambia. Besides, this list includes individual carriers like Blue Wing Airlines from Surinam, Meridian Airways from Ghana, Rollins Air from Honduras and Silverback Cargo Freighters from Rwanda and Conviasa from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. “Safety comes first. We cannot afford any compromises in this area. Where we have evidence inside or outside the European Union that air carriers are not performing safe operations, we must act to guarantee to exclude any risks to safety,” the website cited Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for transport Siim Kallas. He also noted that the commission is ready to apply all efforts to help its neighbors overcome any difficulties in the area of flights safety.