(Ecofin Agency) – For the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, updating its blacklist of carriers is one of the measures helping to maintain a high level of safety for passengers.
The updated version of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s blacklist published on Friday December 13 now brings to 129 companies banned from operating flights in this geographical area. The list includes 55 African carriers, the last of which to be blacklisted is Air Tanzania.
Of the 129, 100 companies certified in 15 countries are banned due to insufficient safety oversight by their national aviation authorities, while 22 certified in Russia are subject to sanctions linked to the conflict in Ukraine. The remaining 7 are in the same situation. Apart from Tanzania and its national flag, 12 other African countries see public or private companies based in their territories banned.
There is Zimbabwe (1) and Libya (10), then 10 others for whom the ban is complete until further notice, therefore also affecting the companies that they would subsequently accredit. These are Angola (7 except TAAG), the Democratic Republic of Congo (13), the Republic of Congo (5), Djibouti (1), Equatorial Guinea (2), Eritrea (2), São Tomé and Príncipe (1), Sudan (12), Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Thwarted growth and expansion plans
If several of these carriers are indeed faced with numerous difficulties which sometimes even make them inoperable, others more ambitious with expansion plans integrating the development of their European network find themselves stopped in their tracks. This is the case of Air Tanzania which has several new aircraft acquired with the aim of opening routes to Europe to make investments profitable and accelerate growth.
The inability for Congo Airways to fly to European destinations was also one of the factors that accelerated the decline of the company, which currently operates with a limited fleet and is in debt. To revive this sector, the Congolese state had to create a new carrier, Air Congo, in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines.
However, it should be noted that due to several endogenous challenges facing African civil aviation (ticket prices, low occupancy rate, etc.) the development of a European network is not necessarily a guarantee of growth. for carriers. Companies like Air Senegal have cut some European services deemed unprofitable, while Kenya Airways, one of the continent’s main carriers with a large European network, continues to be bailed out by the state.
Henoc Dossa
Edited by: Feriol Bewa
