Well... Technically Three

Here's one list no one wants to be on... the European Union's so-called "blacklist" of what it deems to be unsafe airlines. And this week, the European Commission added four more names to the list.

Surinam-based Blue Wing, a small operation that maintains a fleet of Antonov An-28s and Cessna 206s (below), is now subject to a total ban, for not meeting International Civil Aviation Organization safety standards -- as is Krrgyzstan-based charter operator Sky Gate International, and its fleet of four Lockheed L-1011s.

Air West, based in the Sudan, is now subject to operating restrictions within the EU... but is not banned outright. In February 2005, one of the carrier's Ilyushin Il-76s went down after reporting fuel problems on humanitarian cargo flight to Darfour. Seven crewmembers onboard the jet were killed.

The fourth airline to be put on the list isn't really an airline, per se... but rather, a previously banned operator trying a bait-and-switch with its name. At least, that's what the EU says Kyrgyzstan-based Star Jet was attempting to do... as the airline was found to be the same company as Sierra Leone-licensed carrier Star Air, which is already banned in Europe.

After granting Air Mauritania a time extension to prove its compliance, the EC found there was no need to ban carriers operating from the African nation. The EC also removed the cargo-operator ban on Libya's Buraq Air -- but only because the airline no longer carries out such operations in the EU.

One carrier that had petitioned to be removed from the list -- GST Aero, in Kazakhstan -- is still on it, after the EC found the airline had not met safety standards.

As Aero-News reported, the initial blacklist was approved by the commission in late March, after a string of fatal accidents last year highlighted discrepancies in approaches to air safety throughout the 25-nation bloc.

Most of the banned carriers are based in Africa. The EU also has blanket bans on airlines from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia and Swaziland.

FMI: http://europa.eu/