04/07/09, 11:18:04 EDT

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EU extends airline ban to all Indonesian operations in latest blacklist UPDATE

forbes.com

The European Commission said it plans to extend an operating ban to all the 51 Indonesian airlines as well as Angolan flight carrier TAAG Angola Airlines and Ukrainian cargo airline Volare Aviation Enterprise, in the latest update to its EU blacklist of unsafe airlines.

On Indonesia, experts decided on the ban, which includes national flag carrier Garuda, after a series of recent crashes in the Asian archipelago and Indonesian authorities' failure to give adequate safety assurances, an EU official said.

European air safety experts deemed the ban to be necessary after finding 'serious' failings in maintenance, operating, certification and administrative standards, the official said, on condition of anonymity.

Indonesian authorities also left repeated European requests for information unanswered until just before the experts met on Wednesday, but even then they could not answer basic questions such as how many aircraft Indonesian carriers had, another EU official said.

A series of deadly accidents have fuelled concerns about the country's rapidly growing airline industry, which suffers from old planes, poor standards and insufficient investment in infrastructure, according to Indonesian experts.

Iing Iskandar, director of air transport safety at Indonesia's transport ministry, told Agence France-Presse that they had not received any formal notification from the EU and could not comment on the European move.

He noted that the United States' Federal Aviation Authority had in April announced that Indonesia does not comply with international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

'We are committed to improving safety and security in our planes. We have made action plans and regularly survey our carriers,' he said.

Under European rules, passengers must be informed if an airline is on the list of banned carriers and can demand reimbursement or an alternative carrier for tickets bought in Europe for flights that do not enter EU skies.

Although no Indonesian airlines currently fly regularly to and from the EU, the ban could have a big impact on passengers travelling in Indonesia as the European summer holiday period gets underway.

The commission also said that it will relax restrictions imposed on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) by allowing specific Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ) 747 and Airbus 310 aircraft to operate in the bloc.

This increases the number of aircraft in Pakistan International Airlines' fleet allowed to fly to Europe from seven to 19 of the carrier's 43 airplanes.

EU executive also said that 10 Russian, 6 Bulgarian and 8 Moldovan airlines will cease operations in the EU on the basis of provisions adopted by those states in consultation with the commission.

Today's update is the fourth undertaken by the commission. It said it plans to adopt the new blacklist on July 6.

The commission started a safety ban list in March last year after a string of deadly accidents that highlighted the fragmented approach to air safety in the then-25-nation bloc.

 Printable Version  | published Jun 28, 2007