Aircraft
IATA Slams ‘Misguided’ EU Over Safety Blacklists
IATA director general Tony Tyler used last month’s Central Asian aviation safety summit in Kazakhstan to criticize the European Union’s policy of “blacklisting” all operators from specific countries that it considers to have inadequate safety regulation.
IATA director general Tony Tyler used last month’s Central Asian aviation safety summit in Kazakhstan to criticize the European Union’s policy of “blacklisting” all operators from specific countries that it considers to have inadequate safety regulation.

The European Union’s so-called safety blacklist, which bans carriers from specified countries deemed to have inadequate safety regulation standards, has been condemned as “misguided” by Tony Tyler, director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). During last month’s Central Asian summit on aviation safety, Tyler highlighted the bans on summit host Kazakhstan and its neighbor Kyrgyzstan. Carriers from these countries are banned from operating in EU airspace, with the partial exception of Kazakhstan’s Air Astana, which can operate only some of its fleet.