OREANDA-NEWS. September 08, 2009. Air Astana states that the EU did not include it in the “black list” of airlines that are banned flights to Europe. Information published in the Time newspaper does not correspond to reality, reported the press-centre of Air Astana.

We assume that the Time newspaper meant the New rules set by the EU, which regulate emissions of the harmful substances (CO2). As far as it will concern all airlines, which perform flights to EU, it is, of course will concern Air Astana as well. It is possible that the list of all those airline companies appeared to the Time newspaper as a “black list” according to which on 4th of July 2009 all Kazakhstan airline companies except Air Astana were prohibited to perform flights to EU.

“There is a system that regulates quotes on emissions of carbon dioxide. This is a unilateral decision taken by EU. The idea is to define free quota (about 80% of previous emissions) which is proportional to the flights volumes performed for all airline companies, and the monitoring of the flights starts now.”

Air Astana monitor plan is ready and will be presented to the authorized German agency before 1st of October 2009 as assigned. All actions taken by the EU are directed to control and reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and are also one of Air Astana priorities.

Explanation considering the EU requirements in relation to harmful substances emissions, the European authorities are intended to introduce quotas for emissions of jet engines for aircrafts of all airlines flying to Europe. Thus, all airlines, without exception, will pay for flights to Europe at rates determined by the European Union. Amount of payment depends on the frequency of flights and the types of aircraft engines that are installed on the aircraft. The more the airline flies to Europe, the bigger is the amount of payment for emissions that affect the ecology of the airspace.

With regard to the “black list”, JCS Air Astana serves flights to Europe by the decision, which has been accepted on 14th of July 2009 by the European Commission and according to which Air Astana is still, the only airline that is permitted to perform such flights. The European Commission will review its decision on the airlines that were included into the “black list” on the regular basis. All aircrafts operated by Air Astana, meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the EASA and with no exceptions allowed to perform flights on the territory of the EU.

This year in June the airline has successfully passed the operational safety audit of (IOSA) International Air Transport Association and is the only airline company in Kazakhstan, certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to perform aircraft maintenance on the requirements of EASA-145. Together with Kazakhstan regular oversight of the airline in respect of standards the maintenance is also, carried out by the aeronautical authorities of Great Britain and Aruba (the Netherlands).