Special Report

US Says Airlines From These Countries Aren’t Safe

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A Reuters report says that the United States is about to downgrade Mexican air safety. This means, among other things, that Mexican airlines cannot add new flights to America. The FAA, which reviews the airline safety of other nations, already has a list of nations where air safety is considered poor. Its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program measures the safety of countries and not carriers. It can block carriers from nations that do not measure up to its standards.

These are the nations that do not meet those standards: Bangladesh, Curacao, Ghana, Malaysia, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (which includes Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Nevis and Antigua), Pakistan, Thailand and Venezuela. And airlines from these countries can be unsafe.

The safety check is broken into eight critical elements (CE). These are:

  • (CE -1) Primary aviation legislation; • (CE -2) Specific operating regulations; • (CE -3) State civil aviation system and safety oversight functions; • ( CE-4) Technical personnel qualification and training; • (CE -5) Technical guidance, tools and the provision of safety-critical information; • (CE -6) Licensing, certification, authorization, and approval obligations; • (CE -7) Surveillance obligations; and • (CE -8) Resolution of safety concerns.

Click here to see which airlines from these countries aren’t safe

To identify the airlines that are not safe according to the U.S. FAA, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the FAA International Aviation Safety Assessment for all the countries listed as a category 2, meaning that the country does not comply with ICAO standards. We included the largest airport in each country and 2019 population data from the World Bank World Development Indicators.

Antigua and Barbuda
> Population: 97,118
> Largest airport: V. C. Bird International Airport

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leodaphne / iStock via Getty Images

Bangladesh
> Population: 163,046,161
> Largest airport: Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport

Wicki58 / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Curacao
> Population: 157,441
> Largest airport: Hato International Airport

Dominica
> Population: 71,808
> Largest airport: Las Americas Airport

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Ghana
> Population: 30,417,856
> Largest airport: Kotoka International Airport

Orietta Gaspari / E+ via Getty Images

Grenada
> Population: 112,003
> Largest airport: Maurice Bishop Airport

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btrenkel / E+ via Getty Images

Malaysia
> Population: 31,949,777
> Largest airport: Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Mexico
> Population: 127,575,529
> Largest airport: Mexico City International Airport

Nattapan / iStock via Getty Images

Pakistan
> Population: 216,565,318
> Largest airport: Jinnah International Airport

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mtcurado / iStock via Getty Images

St. Kitts and Nevis
> Population: 52,834
> Largest airport: Bradshaw International Airport

User10095428_393 / iStock via Getty Images

St. Lucia
> Population: 182,790
> Largest airport: Hewanorra International Airport

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NAPA74 / iStock via Getty Images

St. Vincent and the Grenadines
> Population: 110,589
> Largest airport: Argyle International Airport

MJ_Prototype / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Thailand
> Population: 69,625,582
> Largest airport: Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport

Venezuela
> Population: 28,515,829
> Largest airport: Caracas Airport

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