After 20 Years, The EU Has Removed All Kyrgyzstan Airlines From Its Airline Blacklist

The European Union Air Safety List (ASL) is a list of airlines that are subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union, due to not meeting international aviation safety standards. The airlines that are included on the ASL are banned from operating to, from or over the EU territory.

Following their 48th update on June 9, 2026, the list now comprises of 154 carriers banned either as a result of individual or country/regional level issues. The list saw one addition, as well as the removal of another country.

Kyrgyzstan Airlines Unbanned

After almost 20 years, Kyrgyzstan’s countrywide ban has been dropped after being in effect since October 15, 2006. A few days prior to the ban going into effect, EU experts concluded that the country’s civil aviation authority had insufficient ability to implement and enforce international safety standards under the Chicago Convention.

There was also a specific concern that many Kyrgyz-certified airlines visited by the experts held Kyrgyz Air Operator Certificates, but did not have their principal place of business in Kyrgyzstan, which conflicted with Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention.

Kyrgyzstan’s airlines and civil aviation authority has since improved their standards over time, earning them the right once again to operate flights to the EU territory. Kyrgyzstan has a handful of airlines operating flights across various Asian markets. With their carriers now removed from the blacklist, it opens up the possibility for them to extend operations into parts of the EU.

Cargo operators such as Aerostan will also benefit as they won’t have to fly convoluted routes in order to avoid EU airspace even for overflight operations. Maybe we might see some TezJet MD-80s in Romania or Bulgaria?

Air Express Algeria Banned

Air Express Algeria is a small Algerian airline operating out of Hassi Messaoud (HME), serving the oil and gas sector within the country. According to the EU findings, the carrier was added to the list “based on serious safety concerns identified during assessments conducted by EU aviation safety experts, which revealed shortcomings in the airlines’ compliance with international safety standards.”

So why ban an airline that does not operate to the EU or overfly EU airspace? There are a few reasons including preventing future access. Presently they may not operate to the EU, but who knows what they may have planned in the long expansion. Algeria is the most northerly country in Africa, bordering the EU, so there is a remote possibility that the carrier could consider EU ops with the right aircraft.

Listing the airline(s) also serves as a public warning, and can also put pressure on the affected carrier(s) to improve their operations, even if they have no intention of operating within the EU. Is it up to the EU to police all airlines? That’s a debate I’ll leave up to you.

Other notable bans

In 2025, two countries were blacklisted, that being Tanzania and Suriname. This came as a big blow as it meant the respective carriers operating with AOCs registered in these countries no longer could access the European Union.

Suriname for instance, has historical ties with the Netherlands, but as a result of the ban, Surinam Airways was forced to pause its long-haul operations to Amsterdam citing concerns at the civil aviation level. Since then, they have retired their long-haul aircraft and currently wet-lease planes and crew from other approved nationals. In the past nine months alone, they leased aircraft from TUI Fly Netherlands, Eastern Airlines and Universal Sky Carrier (USC).

As for Tanzania, Air Tanzania suffered the biggest blow as they were forced to cease all EU based routes, but are planning to re-enter the UK market by mid-2027. How they plan to achieve this, I am not really sure how, as none of the relevant parties have publicly commented about working to get the EU ban lifted. However, the route is still possible assuming Air Tanzania enter into a wet-leasing arrangement with another EU-approved carrier.

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