A total of 154 airlines are banned in the European Union due to safety concerns, after the 2026 update of the ‘EU air safety list’ announced by the European Commission this week.
The list was set up in 2006 to flag carriers that “do not fulfil international safety standards”, the Commission explains.
The airlines in the list cannot fly in EU skies, including overflying. Airlines that do not operate flights to the European Union can also be included “in order to warn the public travelling outside of the EU about safety concerns”.
The Commission can decide to ban all the carriers that have received the permission to operate from safety authorities in third countries that “are not able to fulfil their international safety oversight obligations”.
At present, 126 airlines in 16 countries are banned because of shortcomings by national aviation authorities. This includes airlines from Afghanistan, Angola (except for two), Armenia, Congo Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Liberia, Libya, Nepal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Suriname, and Tanzania.
