These are the airlines you might not want to fly with

THE European Commission regularly updates a list of airlines that do not meet international safety standards. The latest version of this document has just been released. And the good news is that the number of carriers concerned is falling.

Ninety-seven airlines are now banned from European skies, down from 103 on the previous EU Air Safety List dating from July. Some 90 carriers from 15 countries are not allowed to fly their aircraft within the common space. These countries are: Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Libya, Nepal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone and Sudan.

In concrete terms, these airlines do not follow safety rules scrupulously enough to be recommended to European travelers, the Commission points out. In addition, seven individual airlines have been banned based due to "serious safety deficiencies," namely Avior Airlines (Venezuela), Blue Wing Airlines (Suriname), Iran Aseman Airlines (Iran), Iraqi Airways (Iraq), Med-View Airlines (Nigeria), Skol Airline LLC (Russia) and Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe).

Note, however, that airlines certified in Moldova have now been removed from the EU Air Safety List.