EU Calls For Warning System For Airline Safety
May 27, 2005
The European Commission on Thursday called for the creation of a coordinated early warning system in the event that one member state is worried over the safety of an airline.
Two weeks ago the Netherlands and Germany temporarily withdrew landing rights for Turkish airline Onur Air, saying Onur's planes were unsafe. France and Switzerland also imposed a ban on the airline.
The withdrawal of Onur's landing rights stranded thousands of European tourists in Turkey but the Commission said member states had acted in a haphazard fashion.
"We do not want a repeat of the situation that we had last weekend so an early warning system is to be set up so if member states feels that something is wrong, that there is insufficient inspection," Commission spokesman Stefaan de Rynck told a daily briefing.
"Emergency measures should be taken in a coordinated fashion rather in a haphazard fashion, which is what happened recently," he added.
Representatives of civil aviation authorities in the EU agreed at a meeting in Brussels earlier on Thursday that the law governing safety inspections of planes should be tightened so member states inform each other and coordinate their moves.
"The Commission feels that all member states should be involved in these steps so we have a uniform approach," de Rynck said.
On Wednesday Onur Air resumed flights to the four countries that withdrew its landing rights two weeks ago after agreeing to beefed-up safety inspections.
(Reuters)
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