Following the announcement by the European Commission on Wednesday on its updated Carrier Black List, Mozambique, Mauritania and Madagascar's press have responded to the news in varying ways, with the Mozambican press and Air Madagascar claiming that the Ban is not so much about their airline's respective safety records, but more about the general status quo of aviation and aviation safety in their countries.
Maputo, Mozambique: An editorial from a national daily, O País, laid the blame for Mozambique's consistent failure to extricate itself from the Black List on the country's civil aviation authority, Aviação Civil de Moçambique (IACM), as opposed to the country's airlines:...Remember that, in April 2011, the European Commission declared that "all air carriers certified in Mozambique have been banned from flying to the EU because of significant safety deficiencies requiring decisive action." Indeed, the deficiencies identified do not relate to Mozambique Airlines (LAM) or any other Mozambican airline, but rather to the regulator, the Civil Aviation Institute of Mozambique (IACM).
It happens, however, that the deficiencies in the regulatory evaluation, by the Air Safety Committee of the European Commission, are widely attributed to companies in the respective countries.
Under the list, the European Commission responsible for transport has maintained its ban on all airlines flying in Mozambican airspace of the European Union, and warns that "will not remove an airline from the list unless you have clear evidence that the aviation safety issue has been resolved. "
Last April, the administrator of Mozambique Airlines (LAM), Marlene Manave, stated that the European Commission's decision to ban Mozambican companies from European airspace did not affect the institution's accounts, since the Mozambican carrier does not have, at this time, flights to Europe.
The retention of Mozambique on the banned carrier's list does however, affect LAM Mozambique's future plans to resume flights to Europe.
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Nouakchott, Mauritania: News on the lifting of the Ban on not one, but all Mauritanian registered carrier's was greeted with jubilation and optimism for what the future holds:This is the first time that an African country has been able to step out of such a category since the inception of the list in 2006. The news has been welcomed by stakeholders in the sector and they believe the country is set for an influx of investments and flights as the tourism season approaches. It couldn’t come at a better time as this year’s winter seems to be very harsh making it suitable for holiday makers to come and enjoy its abundant sunlight.
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Antananarivo, Madagascar: After months of hard work and preparations for various ICAO and EASA sanctioned safety checks in the country, the retention of Air Madagascar under section B of the No Fly List (Permitted to Fly to Europe albeit under certain restrictions) came as a blow, but, the national carrier remained resolute that safety would play a critical role in the airline's future operations. It added that its failure to leave the list was a result of its operating environment, which it claimed, it had no control over: Source [Air Madagascar]The Aviation Safety Committee of the European Union, which met November 21, 2012 did not comment on the programs Air Madagascar has launched since July 2011 to strengthen the sustainable level safety of its operations.
The positive results of the monitoring carried out by recognized international bodies (EASA. IOSA) demonstrate the effectiveness of these actions. Indeed, Air Madagascar has been audited by EASA, the European Monitoring maintenance workshops in October 2011 and again in October 2012. The EASA/Air Madagascar certificate was renewed in November 2012.
Similarly, Air Madagascar in 2012 passed the IATA LOSA audit with a high score on all operational management systems for safety and security of the company.
All these actions fall within the commitment of Air Madagascar to improve and maintain a continuous and non-negotiable level of security to earn the trust of its customers and partners.
For reasons relating to the general environment of the airline, of which the company has no direct control, the EU Commission has found it necessary to maintain the status quo on the operating restrictions of Air Madagascar Europe.
Pending a normalization of the situation, the workarounds are under study to allow Air Madagascar to operate more efficiently and more effectively on its European routes.
No official (or unofficial comment) has been heard from either Eritrea or Libya.
