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21-Dec-2010 12:20 PM

EU ban for Afghan-registered aircraft suspends Safi Airways' European services

Safi Airways stated (20-Dec-2010) the recently announced EU ban preventing the entry of Afghan registered aircraft into EU airspace is "particularly frustrating" for the carrier as the bank has been evoked as a result of the Afghan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. The carrier continued that the ban is "totally outside the control of the airline, which is fully ICAO compliant and widely regarded as the best airline in Afghanistan". Over the holiday period, the carrier stated it would either wet lease a European registered aircraft to provide direct flights or rerouted booked passengers via Dubai over the Christmas period to reduce passenger inconvenience. The decision will result in the suspension of Kabul-Frankfurt services from Jan-2011 (TradeArabia, 20-Dec-2010). [more]

Safi Airways: "We are evaluating all the options available to us, including applying for a new AOC in a different country. As this of course takes time and we need to be fair to our customers and remove any uncertainty, so we came to the decision, albeit reluctantly, to suspend our service between Frankfurt and Kabul for the time being. We are working hard now to find a more permanent solution to this problem and we will keep you updated as we progress. We also wish to remind our customers that Safi Airways flies twice daily from Dubai to Kabul and return," Hamid Safi, Executive Director. Source: Company Statement, 20-Dec-2010.

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