Twelve Airlines Listed As EU Works On Its Own Blacklist

Not willing to wait until the European Union comes up with its own blacklist of airlines it says aren't safe to fly, France and Belgium have issued their own lists, urging travelers to avoid carriers from places like Ukraine, North Korea and Africa.

Swiss authorities said they planned to issue their own list on Thursday.

Not everyone on the lists was willing to go quietly.

"I really don't understand what is the meaning of unsafe," Captain Chawanit Chiamcharoenvut, executive vice-president of Bangkok-based Phuket Air, told the Associated Press. His carrier was blacklisted by the French on Monday. "We have never had a serious incident or accident, so I would like to ask back to the authorities what is the meaning of unsafe?"

But no one in France was talking.

The French list included:

• Air Koryo, North Korea
• Air St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
• International Air Services, Liberia
• Phuket Airlines, Thailand
• Linhas Aereas de Mocambique, Mozambique
• Transairways, Mozambique

  

The Belgian list consisted of:

• Africa Lines, Central African Republic
• Air Memphis, Egypt
• Air Van Airlines, Armenia
• Central Air Express, Congo
• ICTTPW, Libya
• International Air Tours Limited, Nigeria
• Johnsons Air Limited, Ghana
• Silverback Cargo Freighters, Rwanda
• South Airlines, Ukraine

FMI: www.icao.int