BBC NEWS | Politics | UK's airline blacklist publishedSomething's not = quite right with "this picture"! Who are the two carriers being "protected" by so called "confidentiality rules"? Is Mr. McNulty saying that non-payment of a fine is grounds for banning an airline into UK airspace? If an airline has a safety issue, I want to know about it. Liam. YVR. -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ------- =20 UK's airline blacklist published=20 A list of airlines from eight countries which are banned from flying in = UK air space has been published.=20 However, the names of two airlines banned by another European country in = 2002 and still able to fly to the UK have not been released.=20 The naming follows the Flash Airline crash in Egypt last week, and the = revelation the Swiss had banned Flash.=20 All aircraft operated by airlines from Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, = Liberia and Tajikistan have been banned.=20 The others on the blacklist are Sierra Leone's Star Air and Air = Universal, Cameroon Airlines, Albanian Airlines and Central Air Express, = from DR Congo.=20 Banned airlines=20 Star Air (Sierra Leone)=20 Air Universal (Sierra Leone)=20 Cameroon Airlines=20 Albanian Airlines=20 Central Air Express (DR Congo)=20 Responding to a question from Tory MP David Wilshire, Transport Minister = Tony McNulty said that the UK had a "rigorous safety regime" when it = came to air travel.=20 "If we have evidence that international standards are not being met a = permit may be refused or revoked. Permits may also be refused for other = reasons, such as non-payment of fines for offences under immigration = legislation," he said in a written answer.=20 "In addition, we require permit applicants, where appropriate, to = confirm that aircraft are equipped with certain equipment such as ground = proximity warning systems and the airborne collision avoidance systems.=20 Right to know?=20 "Permit applications have been turned down in the absence of such = confirmation."=20 Two airlines banned or restricted in at least one European country in = 2002 were still flying from the UK in 2003.=20 But their names are being kept secret, amid international confusion on = confidentiality rules, a BBC News Online investigation has learned.=20 Mr Wilshire told BBC News: "If a government bans an airline from its = airspace it has to have a good reason.=20 "And we have a right to know whether it is sensible to get on an = aircraft."=20 Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk_politics/3379773.stm Published: 2004/01/08 15:50:12 GMT =A9 BBC MMIV