The European Parliament today backed the creation of a blacklist of airlines that are considered too unsafe to fly within the 25-nation European Union.
After a spate of accidents earlier this year prompted calls for quicker work on a blacklist, the European assembly agreed to a compromise bill hammered out with the EU's executive Commission and the council of member states.
The new rules will likely come into force at the beginning of 2006, with EU member states telling the Commission which airlines are banned from operating in their territory.
Then the Commission will draw up the blacklist, based on common criteria for banning airlines. Carriers included on the list will have the chance to defend themselves. France, Belgium and Britain have already published lists of companies grounded due to poor safety records.
But an airline banned in one EU state can still land in a neighbouring country. Four fatal crashes in August alone killed more than 330 people worldwide. EU transport ministers meeting on December 5th must approve the plan for it to become law, but no further changes are expected since ministers have already signed on to the compromise.
In the parliament, 577 members voted in favour of the measures, while 16 voted against and 31 abstained. "The blacklist is going to be a very efficient instrument," Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot told a news conference ahead of the vote on Tuesday.
Under the EU plan, an airline passenger booking a flight must be told the name of his or her carrier. If the airline is subsequently put on the blacklist, the passenger would be entitled to reimbursement of the ticket or a flight with a different carrier.
Britain has blacklisted airlines from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Tajikistan. It has denied permits to Air Mauritanie and Thai airline Phuket Airlines due to safety concerns.
EU member states will be able to ban carriers not on the list in certain circumstances. The blacklist is one of several measures the EU is taking to improve air safety.
Recent proposals by the European Commission would endow the three-year-old European Aviation Safety Agency with new powers controlling air operations, licences of pilots, and oversight of third-country airlines operating in the 25-nation bloc.