Mozambique national airline banned from Europe

The Mozambican national air carrier, Mozambique Airlines (LAM) has been banned from entering European airspace after failing to meet European Commission safety regulations. The company has said it will continue to provide a service to Portugal despite the ban, and claims that it meets all international guidelines. It said: "Flights to Portugal will continue as the Boeing 767 we are using is leased from EuroAtlantic, a Portuguese air company which is not on the ban list."

However, according to the European Commission, aviation authorities in Mozambique are not enforcing essential practices such as the provision of quality technicians. The commission has justified its ban, citing "significant deficiencies faced by the civil aviation authorities of this country [Mozambique] as reported by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)".

The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has reacted with "great disappointment and concern" at the decision and has pointed out that since LAM was established in 1980 it has not had any major accidents, and said that since 1989 there have been no accidents of any kind involving LAM aircraft.

LAM is the latest airline to join the list of 269 air carriers from 21 countries, 14 of them African, which have been banned from entering European airspace.