EU blacklist: update Nov 09: 3 new African countries banned

[sn26567]

Three new countries of Africa have been put on the EU blacklist: Djibouti (not a surprise), Sao Tome & Principe (remember the Hewa Bora trick?) and the Republic of Congo (the other one with Brazzaville as its capital).

On the other hand, TAAG of Angola is now allowed to fly its 3 Boeing 777-200ER and 4 Boeing B737-700s to Europe, but not further than Portugal.

Four Ukrainian companies are unbanned: Ukraine Cargo Airways and Volare lost their licence and have no longer a reason to be on the list; Motor Sich is fully authorised; Ukrainia Mediterranean Airlines has the authorisation to fly one MD-83.

[b-west]

The TAAG ban strikes me as a bit odd. Do planes all of a sudden become unsafe if they are to fly beyond Portugal? It sounds an awful lot like protectionism.

[RoMax]

Now they don't thrust TAAG completly yet. But conections to/from Portugal are very important for them. For TAP these flights are very profitable also. Compare it with BRU-FIH.

[sdbelgium]

I can follow b-west in his 'protectionism' thinking. I too find it strange that planes can fly to Portugal, but not to other "Western/European" counties e.g. Spain or France. It is the same plane, in the same condition. If it's safe for one country, than it's safe for all. Isn't that the goal of a EU blacklist, to have uniformity within the whole union?

[Lyulka]

As far as I know the Portuguese authorities are helping the Angolans to improve their flight safety. Might be the reason why they're allowed to fly to Portugal only.
I think it's funny that all in a sudden Sao Tome and Principe shows up on the list. Any link with the HewaBora lease ? Apart from some bizzers there are only 2 S9 reg'd planes visiting Europe.

[b-west]

Now they don't thrust TAAG completly yet. But conections to/from Portugal are very important for them.

So what you're saying is that the Portugal connection is economically important enough to overlook safety issues?

As far as I know the Portuguese authorities are helping the Angolans to improve their flight safety. Might be the reason why they're allowed to fly to Portugal only.

Ok, but I guess maintenance facilities are at pretty much the same level all over Europe.

[RoMax]

TAAG is safe, but only since a few years when they get the new Boeing planes and want to fly to Portugal again. Now the EU has given the promision to fly to Portugal BUT Portugal need to take care about there safety. If their is one problem, TAAG will have a big problem. If everything goes fine for a year/some years the EU will decide that TAAG can fly to whole Europe if they want.

[andorra-airport]

I guess STP Airways (Z8) from São Tomé and Príncipe, can still fly to Lisbon with the wet-leased 767-300ER from EuroAtlantic Airways?

[TCAS_climb]

The blacklist considers two things:
- the airline/operator and
- the national authority that oversees it.

By making SAFA ramp inspections the EU tests two things: the operator, and if there are findings, the EU also tests the authority in charge of the operator. If an authority never replies to requests for clarification from the EU, or replies in an unprofessional manner, that's probably a sign of a deficient authority. Do we want useless authorities around ? Of course not. The fastest way for a country to end up on the blacklist is to ignore the EU or to look incompetent.

If the authority is below standards, the whole country lands in the blacklist.
If just one operator is below standards, that operator alone lands in the blacklist.
If a safety-minded airline is based in a country with an incompetent authority, that airline will be blacklisted regardless of its efforts.

These are the rules of the game. TAAG's fate is not entirely dependent upon their own dedication to safety issues.

[regi]

Thank you TCAS, your remark sheds another light on the issue.