Which airlines are banned in Europe because they do not meet international safety standards? The European Commission updated in June 2020 the blacklist of 96 airlines deemed the most dangerous for passengers.
[Updated June 8, 2020 at 10:58 a.m.] Some locally reputable airlines are banned from flying above the 28 countries of the European Union because they do not guarantee optimal safety conditions for their passengers. To reassure travelers when booking their plane tickets, the European Commission updates twice a year the list of airlines which are subject to this ban or for which operating restrictions have been decided. Some countries are particularly affected by this blacklist: several of them have no authorized airlines in Europe!
The blacklist of airlines was first published in March 2006. Since then, a commission has met approximately every six months to assess compliance with the minimum security standards of the companies concerned. The last update of the airline blacklist dates from June 2020. Of the 96 companies banned from flying in the Union, more than 50 are from 14 African countries, with 75% coming from the Sudan, DRC, Libya and Angola. For 15 countries, certified companies are now subject to a total ban on operating in European airspace: Afghanistan, Angola (with the exception of Angola Airlines and Heli Malongo), Djibouti, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Libya, Nepal, Moldova (except Air Moldova, Fly One and Aerotranscargo), Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sao Tomé and Principe, Sierra Leone and Sudan. Below are details of all companies to avoid as unsafe. The airlines banned in Europe are now 96, spread over 24 countries…
ARIANA AFGHAN AIRLINESKAM AIR
AEROJETGICANGOBESTFLYAAIR JETHELIANGSJLSONAIR
AIRCOMPANY ARMENIAARMENIA AIRWAYSARMENIAN HELICOPTERSATLANTIS ARMENIAN AIRLINESATLANTIS EUROPEAN AIRWAYSMARS AVIASKYBALL
CANADIAN AIRWAYS CONGOEQUAFLIGHT SERVICESEQUAJETTRANS AIR CONGOSOCIETE NOUVELLE AIR CONGO
AIR FAST CONGOAIR KATANGABUSY BEE CONGO AFRICAN AVIATION COMPANY (CAA)CONGO AIRWAYSKIN AVIAMALU AVIATIONSERVE AIRSWALA AVIATIONMWANT JET
AIR LEARNING
DALLO AIRLINES
CEIBA INTERCONTINENTAL CRONOS AIRLINES
ERITREAN AIRLINESNASAIR ERITREA
CEIBA INTERCONTINENTAL CRONOS AIRLINES
IRAQI AIRWAYS
IRAN STATION AIRLINES
AIR COMPANY AIR KGAIR MANASAVIA TRAFFIC COMPANYSKY KG AIRLINESTEZ JET
All companies
AFRICA AIRWAYSAIR LIBYAAL MAHA AVIATIONBURAQ AIRGLOBAL AVIATION AND SERVICESLIBYAN AIRLINESLIBYAN WINGS PETRO AIR
All companies except Air Moldava, Fly One and Aerotranscargo
AIR DYNASTY HELI. S.ALTITUDE AIRBUDDHA AIRFISHTAIL AIRSUMMIT AIRHELI EVEESTHIMALAYA AIRLINESKAILASH HELICOPTER SERVICESMAKALU AIRMANANG AIR PVT LTDMOUNTAIN HELICOPTERSNEPAL AIRLINES CORPORATIONPRABHU HELICOPTERSSAURYA AIRLINESSHREE AIRLINESSIMRIK AIRSIMRIK AIRLINESSITA AIRTARA AIRYETI AIRLINES DOMESTIC
MED-VIEW
AERO SERVICECANADIAN AIRWAYS CONGOEMERAUDEAQUAFLIGHT SERVICESEQUAJETEQUATORIAL CONGO AIRLINESMISTRAL AVIATIONTRANS AIR CONGO
AFRICA’S CONNECTIONSTP AIRWAYS
All Airlines
ALFA AIRLINES SDBADR AIRLINESBLUE BIRD AVIATIONELDINDER AVIATIONGREEN FLAG AVIATIONHELEJETIC AIRKATA AIR TRANSPORTKUSH AVIATION CO.NOVA AIRWAYSSUDAN AIRWAYS CO.SUN AIRTARCO AIR
BLUE WING AIRLINES
AVIOR AIRLINES
AIR ZIMBABWE
In addition to these 96 airlines banned from flying within the territory of the European Union since the June 2020 update, three carriers are subject to operating restrictions and cannot operate flights to the EU only if they use specific aircraft types: Air Koryo (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), Air Service Comores (Comoros) and Iran Air (Iran).
