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7-Jun-2011 12:22 PM

Europe should abolish its airline blacklist: AFRAA

African Airlines Association (AFRAA) secretary general Dr Elijah Chingosho has called for the European Union to abolish its airline blacklist, on which airlines from the African region feature heavily (Arabian Supply Chain, 06-Jun-2011). Dr Chingosho said that the EU ban on all airlines from Mozambican airlines makes it the 14th African state to feature on the list, with Madagascar the 15th. The bans represent 26% of all African airlines. Dr Chingosho defended the safety of LAM Mozambique Airlines, which he claims has not had an accident since its launch in 1980, a statistic which in not matched by airlines based inside the European Union. He stated that LAM has passed IATA safety audits and said he "fails to see how such blanket banning contributes to encourage African carriers that strive to achieve industry best practices in safety standards." Dr Chingosho believes the ban hurts the ability of African airlines to grow profitably and safely. As a result, he claims, EU airlines are the only beneficiaries of the bans, who "swiftly step in to fill the vacuum and take the market share of the banned airlines".

AFRAA: "The banning of an airline not only prohibits that airline from operating to the EU but also impacts its ticket sales to other destinations, including on codeshared routes as travel agents and other codeshare partners in EU are required by regulation at the time of sales or booking to notify passengers that the airline is blacklisted. Irrespective of what the European Commission public relations exercise of attempting to pass blanket banning as a solution to safety concerns is, it amounts to nothing more than a blunt instrument that constrains the development of a viable African air transport industry." Dr Elijah Chingosho, secretary general. Source: Arabian Supply Chain, 06-Jun-2011.

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