UAE to draw up blacklist of unsafe airlines

THE UAE is preparing a blacklist of unsafe airlines that will be forbidden from flying in its airspace.Saif al-Suwaidi, director-general of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said that it is an attempt to start “cleaning up the market from those who are misusing the open-skies policy” after it was revealed that six airlines banned from flying within the EU are still allowed to fly in the UAE. The GCCA says it is also in response of the UAE’s growing importance as a regional hub.While similar to the EU’s blacklist, al-Suwaidi said the UAE’s approach would be different by being based on “different tools of measurement” but with the same aim of ensuring “the highest standards of safety and to protect our country”.He did not give a deadline for the list’s completion but he did say that it would require considerable resources.Some of those airlines banned in EU airspace but no in the UAE are Ariana Afghan Airlines (Afghanistan), Cargo Airways (Ukraine), Click Airways (Kyrgyzstan) and East Wing (Kazakhstan).The safety move comes shortly after the Azza Air Transport 707 freighter crashed at Sharjah Airport last month. Azza Air has been banned from flying in the UAE pending completion of an investigation but is not otherwise not yet part of the proposed checklist, nor is it banned from flying in EU skies.