Radar

EU plans to coordinate airline safety actions

The Associated Press

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2005



BRUSSELS The European Union said Thursday that it would propose an emergency coordination procedure for airline safety so that European governments would not take unilateral action against airlines.

The proposal came after the Netherlands imposed a one-month ban on the Turkish charter airline Onur Air two weeks ago because of safety concerns, prompting similar bans at Swiss, French and German airports.

The countries agreed in principle to lift their bans on Tuesday after Onur Air said it would submit to additional safety inspections.

"We are going to set up an early warning system," Stefaan De Rynck, the spokesman for the EU transport commissioner, Jacques Barrot, said after a meeting of aviation experts from the EU's 25 member states.

In the future, "action should be taken in a coordinated way," De Rynck added.

The European Commission also wants EU members to give it the power to impose flight suspensions and bans throughout the Union. The member states have rejected such a move in the past.

Barrot said the EU had to be able to act in an organized way when banning flights.

"Europe cannot tolerate a badly coordinated approach among member states where a company is prohibited in one country and authorized in a neighboring country," he said.

The original decision by the Netherlands to ban Onur Air left thousands of Dutch vacationers stranded in Turkey and others casting about for alternative arrangements.

The unilateral actions caused confusion among air passengers as flights were directed to neighboring countries where the airline is still allowed to operate, such as Belgium.

Onur Air is primarily a budget domestic airline in Turkey, but it is also chartered to carry some of the millions of Europeans who vacation in Turkey during the summer.

To avoid future disruptions, all EU countries should step up inspections of Onur Air flights, the Commission said.

Members of the EU are moving toward stricter controls for foreign airlines that operate in their countries.

Last February the Commission disclosed plans to create a blacklist to publish the names of airlines that are banned by any EU member country.

The blacklist plan came after the crash of an Egyptian Flash Airlines jet into the Red Sea in 2004 that killed 148 people, mostly French tourists. The airline had been banned by Switzerland, which is not an EU member but works closely with the bloc.


BRUSSELS The European Union said Thursday that it would propose an emergency coordination procedure for airline safety so that European governments would not take unilateral action against airlines.

The proposal came after the Netherlands imposed a one-month ban on the Turkish charter airline Onur Air two weeks ago because of safety concerns, prompting similar bans at Swiss, French and German airports.

The countries agreed in principle to lift their bans on Tuesday after Onur Air said it would submit to additional safety inspections.

"We are going to set up an early warning system," Stefaan De Rynck, the spokesman for the EU transport commissioner, Jacques Barrot, said after a meeting of aviation experts from the EU's 25 member states.

In the future, "action should be taken in a coordinated way," De Rynck added.

The European Commission also wants EU members to give it the power to impose flight suspensions and bans throughout the Union. The member states have rejected such a move in the past.

Barrot said the EU had to be able to act in an organized way when banning flights.

"Europe cannot tolerate a badly coordinated approach among member states where a company is prohibited in one country and authorized in a neighboring country," he said.

The original decision by the Netherlands to ban Onur Air left thousands of Dutch vacationers stranded in Turkey and others casting about for alternative arrangements.

The unilateral actions caused confusion among air passengers as flights were directed to neighboring countries where the airline is still allowed to operate, such as Belgium.

Onur Air is primarily a budget domestic airline in Turkey, but it is also chartered to carry some of the millions of Europeans who vacation in Turkey during the summer.

To avoid future disruptions, all EU countries should step up inspections of Onur Air flights, the Commission said.

Members of the EU are moving toward stricter controls for foreign airlines that operate in their countries.

Last February the Commission disclosed plans to create a blacklist to publish the names of airlines that are banned by any EU member country.

The blacklist plan came after the crash of an Egyptian Flash Airlines jet into the Red Sea in 2004 that killed 148 people, mostly French tourists. The airline had been banned by Switzerland, which is not an EU member but works closely with the bloc.


BRUSSELS The European Union said Thursday that it would propose an emergency coordination procedure for airline safety so that European governments would not take unilateral action against airlines.

The proposal came after the Netherlands imposed a one-month ban on the Turkish charter airline Onur Air two weeks ago because of safety concerns, prompting similar bans at Swiss, French and German airports.

The countries agreed in principle to lift their bans on Tuesday after Onur Air said it would submit to additional safety inspections.

"We are going to set up an early warning system," Stefaan De Rynck, the spokesman for the EU transport commissioner, Jacques Barrot, said after a meeting of aviation experts from the EU's 25 member states.

In the future, "action should be taken in a coordinated way," De Rynck added.

The European Commission also wants EU members to give it the power to impose flight suspensions and bans throughout the Union. The member states have rejected such a move in the past.

Barrot said the EU had to be able to act in an organized way when banning flights.

"Europe cannot tolerate a badly coordinated approach among member states where a company is prohibited in one country and authorized in a neighboring country," he said.

The original decision by the Netherlands to ban Onur Air left thousands of Dutch vacationers stranded in Turkey and others casting about for alternative arrangements.

The unilateral actions caused confusion among air passengers as flights were directed to neighboring countries where the airline is still allowed to operate, such as Belgium.

Onur Air is primarily a budget domestic airline in Turkey, but it is also chartered to carry some of the millions of Europeans who vacation in Turkey during the summer.

To avoid future disruptions, all EU countries should step up inspections of Onur Air flights, the Commission said.

Members of the EU are moving toward stricter controls for foreign airlines that operate in their countries.

Last February the Commission disclosed plans to create a blacklist to publish the names of airlines that are banned by any EU member country.

The blacklist plan came after the crash of an Egyptian Flash Airlines jet into the Red Sea in 2004 that killed 148 people, mostly French tourists. The airline had been banned by Switzerland, which is not an EU member but works closely with the bloc.


BRUSSELS The European Union said Thursday that it would propose an emergency coordination procedure for airline safety so that European governments would not take unilateral action against airlines.

The proposal came after the Netherlands imposed a one-month ban on the Turkish charter airline Onur Air two weeks ago because of safety concerns, prompting similar bans at Swiss, French and German airports.

The countries agreed in principle to lift their bans on Tuesday after Onur Air said it would submit to additional safety inspections.

"We are going to set up an early warning system," Stefaan De Rynck, the spokesman for the EU transport commissioner, Jacques Barrot, said after a meeting of aviation experts from the EU's 25 member states.

In the future, "action should be taken in a coordinated way," De Rynck added.

The European Commission also wants EU members to give it the power to impose flight suspensions and bans throughout the Union. The member states have rejected such a move in the past.

Barrot said the EU had to be able to act in an organized way when banning flights.

"Europe cannot tolerate a badly coordinated approach among member states where a company is prohibited in one country and authorized in a neighboring country," he said.

The original decision by the Netherlands to ban Onur Air left thousands of Dutch vacationers stranded in Turkey and others casting about for alternative arrangements.

The unilateral actions caused confusion among air passengers as flights were directed to neighboring countries where the airline is still allowed to operate, such as Belgium.

Onur Air is primarily a budget domestic airline in Turkey, but it is also chartered to carry some of the millions of Europeans who vacation in Turkey during the summer.

To avoid future disruptions, all EU countries should step up inspections of Onur Air flights, the Commission said.

Members of the EU are moving toward stricter controls for foreign airlines that operate in their countries.

Last February the Commission disclosed plans to create a blacklist to publish the names of airlines that are banned by any EU member country.

The blacklist plan came after the crash of an Egyptian Flash Airlines jet into the Red Sea in 2004 that killed 148 people, mostly French tourists. The airline had been banned by Switzerland, which is not an EU member but works closely with the bloc