Air safety lists exist with good reason

Most of us take for granted that any aircraft on which we’re travelling is safe and well maintained. Unlike forgetting when the MOT is due on our car, we know there is virtually no chance of an aeroplane’s maintenance and testing regime being overlooked.

 

And with that, we can travel with peace of mind using the safest form of transport.

 

We have this confidence partly because of the EU Air Safety List, established by Regulation (EC) 2111/2005. Following Brexit, the UK adopted a parallel regime, implemented by the Aviation Safety (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

 

This means that there are now two lists: the EU list and the UK Air Safety List, also known as the ‘UK banned list’.

 

Purpose

 

The lists have three common aims:

 

• to protect British and EU nationals wherever they are travelling in the world;
• to inform British and EU nationals of aviation safety compliance so that they can make informed decisions; and
• to deter poor safety performance of foreign airlines or states.

The lists require a high level of aviation safety within the UK and EU’s airspace and ban air carriers that don’t conform to internationally recognised safety standards developed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. The lists are updated regularly and published in the Official Journal of the European Union and by the Civil Aviation Authority, respectively.

 

Airlines that find themselves on the lists (and regulators from banned countries) can appeal their inclusion but the process for doing so is rigorous and not easy to satisfy – as it should be.

 

Scope

 

The lists apply to all air carriers; anyone with an operating licence engaged in commercial air transport could end up on it. If a carrier is on a list, it is banned from any sort of commercial air transport operations in the UK or EU (or both) including scheduled and non-scheduled passenger flights.

 

The definition of ‘air carrier’ and ‘aircraft’ is wide enough to include all types of aircraft used for commercial air transport including helicopters and other powered aircraft.

 

Whilst their scope is wide, the lists aren’t all encompassing. Members may recall incidents involving hot air balloons such as in 2013 in Luxor, Egypt crash where 19 people were killed due to a gas leak and fire, in 2012 in New Zealand where 11 people were killed when the balloon hit a power line and other incidents in Slovenia, China and Brazil, for example.

 

Theoretically a hot air balloon company running commercial passenger flights could fall within the scope, but this is unlikely and hot air balloon operations are currently not included in the lists. Nor are recreational, non-commercial flights.

 

Tour operators’ obligations

 

The UK and EU regulations require tour operators selling package holidays to inform consumers of the name of the carrier operating any flights forming part of the package holiday. This includes flights that start and finish entirely outside the UK or EU, so internal flights in a country from which all airlines are banned would be caught.

 

Whilst being on a list prevents a carrier from operating in EU or UK airspace, tour operators are still able to offer non-UK/EU flights with airlines that are on the list where, for example, these flights are the only means of travelling on a particular route. Members who sell holidays off the beaten track may find themselves having to do this. Provided the consumer is told, there is nothing to stop them from accepting such flights; the key point is they must be told.

 

If an airline isn’t on the list when a holiday is sold but is then placed on the list before departure, this will be a significant change, and a consumer will have a right to re-routing or a refund or will need to give their informed consent to continue if that airline remains the only available option.

 

If a flight is operated by a banned carrier, the tour operator must tell the consumer and they must be offered the right to reimbursement or re-routing. In practical terms, where such a flight is part of a package, this may constitute a major change and could mean the provisions of Regulation 11 PTR are engaged, possibly leading to a refund of the entire package price if the consumer doesn’t want to accept the proposed alternative.

 

The EU regulation requires member states to set out penalties for non-compliance, but the amended UK regulation does not, although non-compliance from a tour operator’s perspective would also lead to non-compliance with the PTR, which could lead to claims from consumers as well as negative publicity.

 

Discrepancies in the lists

 

There can be differences between the UK and EU lists. For example, Pakistan International Airlines was only removed from the UK list in July this year, after a five-year ban, whereas the EU removed it from the list at the end of 2024 and flights to the EU were able to resume in January.

 

Usually, movement in one list is followed reasonably soon after by the other. For example, following an initial ban for Air Tanzania in January 2025, in June 2025 the EU added all airlines certified by the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority. The UK followed suit shortly afterwards on 6 August 2025. 

 

Sometimes divergence can occur where one regulatory authority takes a different view to the other. For example, all Russian certified airlines are currently on the UK list, whereas the EU list specifies 22 Russian carriers rather than a blanket ban.

 

As noted, if airlines disagree with their inclusion in the lists they can make representations to the respective authorities. The fact that the lists work, however, has been demonstrated by those carriers or countries who find themselves on them working to improve safety standards and other concerns.

 

Best practice for members

 

Anyone who sells package holidays must remember the obligation to identify banned carriers and needs to keep up to date with the UK list, and if selling into Europe with the EU list as well. This is particularly important with travel to developing countries or those with unstable governments, where safety standards might be deemed a concern or existing regulatory environments could quickly weaken.

 

Some members refer to the UK list in their booking conditions and provide a link on their website, which can be a useful way of ensuring consumers can stay informed.

 

Overall, the lists are a good idea, and are helping to improve those safety standards that we so often take for granted when flying.

 

This article was first written for ABTA’s Travel Law Today magazine (issue 20), which will be published at ABTA’s upcoming Travel Regulations Conference on 18 November. To find more information and register, click here.