De Europese Unie heeft de EU Air Safety Lists geüpdatet. Alle maatschappijen van de Filipijnen zijn van de lijst afgehaald en mogen weer naar Europa vliegen.
De EU commissaris voor Transport zegt erover: “After 5 years of hard work we are finally able to clear the airlines certified in the Philippines from the European Air Safety List. The Philippines is an important country with a sizeable and rapidly growing aviation sector. Today’s result can serve as an example for other countries which have difficulty to match their safety oversight capabilities with the growth of their industry. I am also pleased to see that other countries made good progress too. The Commission is continuously monitoring developments in third countries to ensure that airlines flying into the EU are up to the highest safety standards.”
Op de lijst staan nog twintig landen waar 231 maatschappijen onder vallen. Een overzicht:
Afghanistan, Angola (with the exception of one airline which operates under restrictions and conditions), Benin, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon (with the exception of 2 airlines which operate under restrictions and conditions), Indonesia (with the exception of 4 airlines), Kazakhstan (with the exception of one airline which operates under restrictions and conditions), Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Libya, Mozambique, Nepal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Zambia. The list also includes one individual airline: Blue Wing Airlines (Suriname), bringing the overall total of airlines banned from EU skies to 232.
Additionally, the list includes 8 airlines which are subject to operational restrictions. These airlines can only fly to the Union with specific aircraft types: Air Astana (Kazakhstan), Afrijet and SN2AG (Gabon), Air Koryo (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), Air Service Comores (the Comoros), Iran Air (Iran), TAAG Angolan Airlines (Angola) and Air Madagascar (Madagascar).
Philippine Airlines
Grootste maatschappij Phillipine Airlines vloog naar Europa tot het zwaar getroffen werd door de Azië crisis. Er werd onder andere naar Frankfurt, Madrid, Rome en Zurich gevlogen. De maatschappij vliegt wel naar de VS, Canada en Australië. Er is een vloot van 29 A320/A321 toestellen. Voor de long haul zijn er vijftien A330-300’s, zes A340-300’s (die worden uitgefaseerd) en zes B777-300ER’s met nog twee in bestelling. De maatschappij heeft ook dertig A321neo’s in bestelling.
