All Afghan airlines have been banned from flying in the European Union owing to “safety deficiencies identified in its system to oversee civil aviation and on several carriers”.
Ariana Afghan Airlines, Kam Air, Safi Airways and Pamir Airways have all been banned. The European Commission has stated that it was ready to provide active support to Afghanistan to deficiencies in cooperation with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Mauritania Airways, Gabon’s Afric Aviation, and nine operators from Kazakhstan, have also been added to the European Commission’s black list of high-risk airlines. Restrictions on Ghana’s Airlift International have been partly lifted.
Even though Ariana has been blacklisted since 2008 it has continued to fly into Germany using wet leased aircraft that are registered in the EU. Safi Airways is also seeking to use this option to continue to fly to Frankfurt.
