kamui Posted August 29, 2005 Report Share Posted August 29, 2005 France issues airline blacklist France has published a blacklist of five airlines banned from its territory on safety grounds. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4194084.stm The list appeared on the website of the country's civil aviation authority (DGAC) on Monday morning. Belgium and Switzerland have also promised to provide their own lists in the next few days. The moves follow a plane crash in Venezuela on 16 August, in which 152 French passengers died on their way home to the island of Martinique. Meanwhile on Saturday, at a meeting of the European Civil Aviation Conference in Bucharest, experts called for a Europe-wide definition of common criteria for blacklists. The European Commission reached a deal in February to allow the creation of EU-wide blacklists of unsafe airlines by the end of the year. But correspondents say it is unclear whether agreement on the blacklists is possible, with Italy calling for just a list of safe companies. Charter transparency The DGAC list said the banned airlines were: * Air Koryo, North Korea * Air Saint-Thomas, US Virgin Islands * International Air Service, Liberia * Air Mozambique (LAM), including its subsidiary Transairways * Phuket Airlines, Thailand. In addition to the list of banned airlines, the DGAC site also published a list of authorised companies including charter airlines. French Transport Minister Dominique Perben said last week that by the end of the year passengers taking charter or tour group flights would have the right to be told which company was operating the flight. Checks on aircraft making stopovers at French airports will also be stepped up. The French decision follows similar action in countries including the UK. The Belgian Transport Ministry is to publish its own list on Monday. Switzerland has already revealed the names of some banned airlines, but said it would publish a full list on Thursday. The french homepage with the list: The original list: http://www.dgac.fr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 Does anyone have any insights into whether the domestic arm of Phuket Air is in the same category as the int'l side, in terms of safety, etc? This is quite worrying, as my wife (as I'm sure the wives of some of you guys too) sometimes flies on them from BKK to get to her home region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 I'd avoid them if possible. Phuket Air apparently has never made a profit and is reportedly billions of baht in debt. That means they are cutting back on maintenance. A friend flew them to London and back. He said almost nothing worked on the plane -- lights, outlets etc. The film was shown without any sound! Latest I heard was that South Korea has impounded one of their planes until Phuket Air pays off the money it owes them. My wife flew a Phuket Air domestic flight once and said the plane rattled and creaked all of the way. :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 There is a Phuket Air B747 currently impounded at Gatwick for non payment of landing fees. Its been there several months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Toad Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 I understand that staff wages have not been paid for 6 weeks. We had a ground hostess after a job and she siad that. But it is the usual Thai things nobody wants to leave because they think they will never get their money! I can see only the desperate to save money flying with them. The Government should clearly shut them down. All adds to Phukets reputaion and a plane crash by Phuket air is just waht phuket needs right now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 agree with you! it is actually amazing that no fatal event has happened yet! what has actually Phuket are to do with the island/province Phuket? anybody know? it seems that Phuket is not even their main hub! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Central Scrutinizer Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 LT, The problem is Phuket Air is sometimes the only way to get to out of the way areas of the kingdom. So fast compared to the bus system or trains. It's not so much the cost, but the availability of choice from other airlines. Used to fly Air Andaman to Surin. Loved the convenience and time saving aspect of this, but sadly they closed down their Surin Airport operations. Now the closest way by air is up to Buriram Airport, about a 50 minute drive from my house. The Surin airport was ten minutes away from the house. :: What got me is the Air Andaman flights to Surin were usually full, but somehow they said they were losing money. (The one way cost from BKK to Surin was around 35 or 40 USD at the time they stopped.) Wish there was another ailine that would open the route to Surin again! (Used to stop in Korat on the way up.) Cent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 1, 2005 Report Share Posted September 1, 2005 That Andaman service to Surin was the best thing going... Now from the other thread about Phuket Airlines, it seems that even the Buriram service may be suspended... hopefully someone will step in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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