EC adds Meridian Airways to safety blacklist, restricts Airlift International

Meridian Airways DC-8F. Photo: Courtesy, Meridian Airways.

The European Commission Wednesday amended its list of airlines banned from the EU for safety reasons to include Ghana's Meridian Airways. It also placed restrictions on another Ghanaian carrier, Airlift International, banning it from operating three of its aircraft to EU airspace.

EC VP Responsible for Transport Siim Kallas said, "We cannot afford any compromise in air safety. Where we have evidence that air carriers are not performing safe operations or where the regulatory authorities fail in their obligation to enforce the safety standards, we must act to guarantee to exclude any risks to safety."

The EC said in a statement that Meridian was banned "as a consequence of a series of very poor results from inspections involving not only their aircraft but also facilities used by the airline in the EU."

It added that an inspection of an Airlift aircraft "indicated a standard well below that required by international standards," leading to the banning of the inspected aircraft as well as two that the ACMI cargo carrier has in storage. The EC said the airline now has just one aircraft it can operate to the EU. The airline on its website said it operates a fleet of five DC-8 freighters.

The EC published the 14th update of its "blacklist" earlier this summer (ATW Daily News, July 7).