Black-listed: The airlines you should avoid flying with, according to the European Union
Black-listed: This Nepal Airways Twin Otter aircraft skidded off the runway in 2008. The airline is banned from entering European Union airspace. Picture: AFP Source: News Limited
IF the thought of flying makes you uneasy now, you're not alone.
There's no doubt it's a time of heightened concern about air safety since the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
But wary travellers should know there is a long list of airlines deemed unsafe for flying available to help you make the right choice — the European Union blacklist.
Many carriers which fly routes near Australia are among the list of 297 airlines barred from entering EU airspace because of their poor safety records.
Water landing: All 101 passengers and seven crew survived when Lion Air Flight 904 went down. Picture: AP Source: NewsComAu
With more than 625,000 visitors in 2012, Indonesia was Australia's largest tourist destination. But it is a lesser known fact that most of the country's commercial airlines are black-listed.
Following a spate of air disasters in 2007, Indonesia's civil aviation chief, Budhi M Suyitno, told a Canberra conference the nation's air safety record was "woeful".
Even the country's largest budget carrier, Lion Air, is on the list, making those $110 flights from Bali to Jakarta a little less appealing.
Water landing: Nearly two dozen were injured when Lion Air Flight 904 crashed into shallow coastal waters. Picture: AP Source: NewsComAu
Four Lion Air pilots were arrested on drug charges in 2012 — one testing positive for crystal meth hours before he was due to command a flight.
And in August 2013, one of the airline's new Boeing 737-800s overshot the runway and crashed into the sea, splitting the plane in two. Thankfully, all 101 passengers and crew survived.
Indonesia's national carrier Garuda was black-listed for two years after a litany of mid-air incidents, including the March 7, 2007 crash of Flight 200 in Yogyakarta.
Five Australians, including two federal police agents, two embassy staff and a journalist were among the 21 killed.
Another major local airline, Adam Air, was shut down by the Indonesian government after Flight 574 went down in the Makassar Strait in January 2007. All 102 passengers and crew were killed.
Garuda disaster: The Indonesian passenger jet overshot the runway and burst into flames. Picture: News Corp Australia Source: Supplied
Wreckage: GA 2000 went down in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Picture: News Corp Australia Source: AFP
Indonesia is joined on the blacklist by a number of African airlines — including all from the Congo, Sudan and Eritrea — as well as Filipino, Afghani and Nepalese carriers.
In just one week in June 2012, two African aircraft were involved in crashes which claimed the lives of more than 160.
A Dana Air jet struck an apartment block in the Lagos, Africa's largest city, killing 153 people and an Allied Air cargo plane veered off a runway into a minibus, claiming 10 lives.
AirlineRatings.com considers Africa to be the world's least safe continent to fly in.
As for Australia? All aircraft which fly here are required to apply for a Foreign Aircraft Operator's Certificate from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
That means if they are flying into or out of any Australian airports they have been cleared by CASA.
But many smaller international carriers - like those mentioned above - stay away from Austarlia because of the tyranny of distance, said CASA spokesman Peter Gibson.
"Most airlines don't fly to Australia because we're too far from anywhere," he joked.
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