EU considers lifting ban on Zambian planes

The delegation of the European Union (EU) to Zambia said the European body will carry out an assessment of the country's aviation industry in October to determine whether to lift the ban on Zambian planes, local newspaper said Wednesday.

In 2009, the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) imposed a ban on Zambian planes from flying into the Euro zone airspace due to poor safety standards.

"The EU thinks good progress is being made towards lifting the ban and it is our hope that an assessment mission would be able to take place before the end of the year which could lead to either a partial or complete lifting of the ban," Gilles Hervio, head of the EU's delegation in Zambia, was quoted as saying by the paper.

Meanwhile, he said the EU hopes that Zambia will have a new aviation law before the ban is lifted and promised that the bloc would provide support to enable Zambia improve its aviation industry.

The EU's ban followed an audit conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization between February and April 2009 which established that Zambia was not complying with international safety standards.

The Zambian government said last year that the EU should lift the ban because considerable progress has been made in the country's aviation industry. Endi