'Banned airline list counter-productive'

The European Union is doing little to advance aviation safety through its banned airlines list, according to Tony Tyler, director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (Iata). He said the EU’s banned list, in particular, had not helped African safety. “Safety in Africa is a challenge, but we believe it is achievable. The commitment made by governments on the continent by signing the Abuja Declaration and the Aviation Safety Improvement Action Plan for Africa speaks to this,” he said. Through this declaration African aviation stakeholders – government and industry – are committed to achieving a safety performance on par with the global average by the end of 2015. Tyler said while the EU was trying to address the lack of safety, the approach at best was “misguided” as it lacked clarity in terms of having no set standards or criteria that airlines had to meet, while there was also no transparency. “An airline on this banned list will therefore not know why they are on the list and also not know how to get off it.” Qantas Airways CEO and managing director, Alan Joyce, who is also the Iata chairman, said raising the standards of safety and security always had to be on the aviation industry agenda, but an integrated approach would achieve far more. INSERT & CAPTION An airline on this banned list will not know why they are on the list. – Tony Tyler