EU adds Air Tanzania to list of banned airlines

The European Commission has banned Air Tanzania from flying within its airspace due to safety concerns in its latest update to the EU Air Safety List.

The African carrier has been added to the EU’s banned list, which now includes 129 airlines, after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) found “safety concerns”. Air Tanzania does not currently operate any European routes but had been seeking permission to start flights to the continent. 

Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the EU’s commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism, said the decision to include Air Tanzania in the Air Safety List showed its “unwavering commitment to ensuring the highest safety standards for passengers in Europe and worldwide”.

“We strongly urge Air Tanzania to take swift and decisive action to address these safety issues,” added  Tzitzikostas. “I have offered the commission’s assistance to the Tanzanian authorities in enhancing Air Tanzania’s safety performance and achieving full compliance with international aviation standards.”

But Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is now allowed to resume operations to the EU following a decision taken by the EASA last month.

PIA’s Third Country Operator (TCO) authorisation was suspended four years ago following the crash of a domestic flight in May 2020. But the EU ban has been lifted after the airline and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority made “substantial progress in improving safety performance and oversight capabilities”, according to a European Commission statement.

The EU Air Safety List includes 100 airlines from 15 countries, including Afghanistan, Armenia, Libya, Sierra Leone and Sudan, due to “inadequate safety oversight by the aviation authorities from these states”.

The list also features 22 Russian airlines, which have been banned due to safety concerns since April 2022, as well as individual carriers such as Air Zimbabwe, Venezuela’s Avior Airlines and Iraqi Airways.