Feliks Magus: Exceptional year for Tallinn

EU updates list
of banned airlines
nThe European Commission has
adopted its latest update of a list of
airlines banned in the European Union.
Some carriers have been removed from
the list, but others have been added due
to fresh safety concerns.
The airlines removed from the list
following this 17th update include an
airline from Ukraine and four all-cargo
carriers from Indonesia, as safety concerns
have been satisfactorily addressed.
However, all carriers based in
Mozambique have now been banned from
flying into the EU, as have the operations
of Air Madagascar due to two specific
aircraft, because of significant safety
deficiencies requiring decisive action in
both cases.
The new list replaces the previous
one established in November 2010. All
of the Commission’s decisions have been
taken with the unanimous support of the
Air Safety Committee, which consists
of experts from the EU’s member states.
“The Commission is ready to work
together with the authorities of those
countries that have safety problems to
overcome them as quickly and as efficiently
as possible,” Commission Vice-
President Siim Kallas, who is responsible
for transport, said.
“In the meantime, safety comes
first. We cannot afford any compromise
in this area. Where we have evidence
inside or outside the European Union
that air carriers are not performing safe
operations, we must act to exclude any
risks to safety.”
The Air Safety Committee, which
met on April 5 to 7, also examined various
cases of European air carriers. The
Commission is urging the authorities in
several member states to further enhance
their oversight of these air carriers to
ensure that all airlines established in
Europe operate at the highest safety
levels.
Improving safety
The new update removes the previous
ban on the operations of four Indonesian
all-cargo carriers – Cardig Air, Republic
Express, Asia Link and Air Maleo. This
is due to solid enforcement action taken
by the Indonesian authorities to ensure
that their operations are safe.
Restrictions on the Ukrainian airline
UMAir have also been removed after
solid evidence showed that its performance
had improved.
The authorities of Angola, Cambodia,
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
have intensified their efforts to enforce
international safety standards. On this
basis, some companies that are no longer
engaged in commercial air transport
have been taken off the list.
In order to ensure that there were
no risks for safety from the operations of
certain airlines, the Commission decided
to impose operating restrictions in two
cases. First, it has imposed an operating
ban on all air carriers certified in
Mozambique in view of the significant
deficiencies faced by the civil aviation
authorities of this country, as reported by
the International Civil Aviation Organization
in the framework of its Universal
Safety Oversight Audit.
The Commission has also imposed
restrictions on two Boeing 767 aircraft
operated by Air Madagascar given the
persisting deficiencies in their operation
and oversight.
The Commission and the members
of the Air Safety Committee recognised
the efforts of the authorities of these
countries to reform their civil aviation
systems and improve safety to guarantee
that international safety standards are
effectively applied.
Given that new airlines have
recently been established in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, they have been
added to the list, as all carriers from this
Bernard Gagnon
Air Madagascar ATR
42-500 at Toliara Airport,
Madagascar
“Where we
have evidence
that carriers
are not performing
safe
operations,
we must act.”
Air Astana Boeing 757 taking
off from Almaty Airport
transport
state are subject to operating restrictions
due to insufficient capacity in the competent
authorities to discharge their safety
oversight responsibilities at that stage.
Finally, after a lengthy discussion,
the Air Safety Committee urged the
Commission to intensify its dialogue on
aviation safety matters with the Russian
Federation to ensure that all aircraft
flying into the EU comply with international
standards.
Technical missions
The Commission mandated the European
Aviation Safety Agency to carry out a
series of technical assistance missions
to support the competent authorities of
a number of countries, in their efforts
to enhance safety and address any safety
concerns.
The updated European list includes
all carriers certified in 21 states, accounting
for 269 known air carriers, whose
operations are fully banned in the
European Union: Afghanistan, Angola,
Benin, Republic of Congo, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial
Guinea, Gabon (with the exception of
three carriers that operate under restrictions
and conditions), Indonesia (with the
exception of six carriers), Kazakhstan
(with the exception of one carrier, which
operates under restrictions and conditions),
the Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Mauritania,
Mozambique, Philippines, Sierra
Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan,
Swaziland and Zambia.
The list also includes three individual
carriers: Blue Wing Airlines
from Surinam, Meridian Airways from
Ghana, and Silverback Cargo Freighters
from Rwanda.
Additionally, the list includes 10
airlines that are allowed to fly into the
EU under strict restrictions and subject to
conditions: Air Astana from Kazakhstan;
Air Koryo from the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea; Airlift International
from Ghana; Air Service Comores, Afrijet,
Gabon Airlines and SN2AG from
Gabon; Iran Air; TAAG Angolan Airlines;
and Air Madagascar certified in
Madagascar. n
Airline backs
volcanic ash system
nA year on from the volcanic ash
cloud that closed European airspace
for five days, the low-cost airline easyJet
says it has announced progress on what
it calls the AVOID (Airborne Volcanic
Object Identifier and Detector) system.
The ash cloud from the eruption of
the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland
prompted the biggest closure of European
airspace since World War II, affecting
around 10 million travellers and causing
losses of somewhere between €1.5 billion
and €2.5 billion.
The AVOID system can be summarised
as effectively being a weather
radar for ash. Created by Dr Fred Prata of
the Norwegian Institute for Air Research,
the system comprises of infrared technology
developed by the US military, fitted
to aircraft to supply images to pilots and
an airline’s flight control centre.
The images will enable pilots to see
an ash cloud up to 100 km ahead of the
aircraft and at altitudes between 5,000
ft and 50,000 ft, allowing them to make
adjustments to the plane’s flight path to
avoid any ash cloud. The concept is similar
to weather radars, which are standard
on commercial airliners today.
On the ground, information from
aircraft with this technology would be
used to build an accurate image of the
volcanic ash cloud using real-time data.
This would open up large areas of airspace
that would otherwise be closed during a
volcanic eruption, which would benefit
passengers by minimising disruption.
“Last winter, we were told that the
heavy snowfall was a once in a lifetime
“Passengers
have a right
to expect
the aviation
industry to
do all they
can to lessen
ash-related
disruption.”
event and then it happened again 10
months later. We can’t predict exactly
when another volcano will erupt and
send an ash cloud into European airspace,
but we can say with certainty
that it will happen at some stage,” Ian
Davies, head of engineering at easyJet,
explained.
“Our industry is better prepared
today than it was last year, but we need
to go further. easyJet is playing its part
by working closely with Dr Fred Prata
and his team to progress the development
of the AVOID technology, and we
call for more support from the rest of the
industry for this and other new solutions
to deal with the volcanic threat.”
Progress made since last year
includes: a prototype has been developed
and is now ready to test in volcanic ash;
certification application through the
European Aviation Safety Agency is now
being prepared; and a funding request
has been prepared to the European Commission
to support the AVOID project.
Flying in ash
The next phase of the project is to further
validate the equipment by flying it close
to volcanic ash. Dr Prata and his team are
monitoring volcanic activity in the Far
East and Alaska. The testing is expected
to take place over the next few months. In
the meantime, the AVOID system will be
put through the certification process with
the European Aviation Safety Agency.
Talks continue with the European
Union for funding to support the research
and development of the system.
At the end of this process, the system
will be ready to go into mass production,
easyJet believes. The airline has
come up with a plan that if 100 aircraft
(20 of which would be easyJet’s) across
Europe were to be fitted with AVOID
equipment, this would provide comprehensive
coverage of the continent
enabling airlines to supply monitoring
information to the authorities to support
the new processes and procedures
that were introduced after the eruption
of Eyjafjallajökull.
This vital information would enable
all airlines to continue to fly safely in
line with the Civil Aviation Authority’s
guidance on safe flying zones.
“We welcome this type of initiative
and encourage other operators to explore
solutions to the problems volcanic ash
poses to aircraft,” Andrew Haines, chief
executive of the Civil Aviation Authority,
said.
“Following last year's disruption,
the CAA has continued to work with
the international aviation community
to develop both the industry's understanding
of ash and measures to reduce
disruption to passengers, while ensuring
high levels of safety. Passengers have a
right to expect the aviation industry to
do everything possible to lessen future
ash-related disruption.” n
20 No.2/2011 Baltic Stand By www.standbynews.info www.standbynews.info
Baltic Stand By No.2/2011 21