Airlines banned from UK named

The names of carriers banned from flying in UK air space because of perceived safety fears were published yesterday (Thursday). Banned airlines include all carriers operating from Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia and Tajikistan. Also on the list are Star Air and Air Universal – both from Sierra Leone along with Cameroon Airlines, Albanian Airlines and DR Congo’s Central Air Express. The naming follows the Flash Airline crash near the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik last week. Flash had been banned from Swiss airspace since October 2002 following concerns over a safety check. The airlines involved were named in a written answer to a question from Tory MP David Wilshire. But the names of two airlines banned or restricted in at least one European country in 2002 that were still flying from the UK in 2003 are being kept secret.