Kyrgyzstan\u2019s airlines have been on the European Union\u2019s Air Safety List for nearly 20 years. And while the country\u2019s government has made efforts to upgrade its aviation industry to meet EU requirements, it has unsuccessfully filed several times to have the country\u2019s airlines removed from the blacklist.<\/p>\n
Bishkek officials are now again saying that they are close to gaining official clearance for Kyrgyz airlines to make direct flights to and from EU countries and Kyrgyzstan has brought in special assistance to help finally convince the bloc to welcome the carriers into its airspace.<\/p>\n
Listed from the very start<\/strong><\/p>\n The EU both approved and published<\/a> the initial list of \u201cair carriers which are subject to an operating ban\u201d in 2006. Kyrgyzstan\u2019s airlines were featured on that very first list.<\/p>\n The European Commission compiles the list after consultations with aviation authorities from all EU member states.<\/p>\n In April 2012, after 16 of Kyrgyzstan\u2019s air carriers appeared on the updated safety list, then-director of the Civil Aviation Department in Kyrgyzstan\u2019s Transport Ministry, Murataly Toktobekov, explained the reasons for the continued ban.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fleet of these [Kyrgyz] companies does not comply with international obligations, the legislative framework does not meet the civil aviation requirements generally accepted in the world,\u201d Toktobekov said<\/a>, and \u201cthere is a shortage of inspectors and their low salaries [are a concern].\u201d<\/p>\n In 2011, Kyrgyz airlines made nine emergency landings, including the crash landing<\/a> of an Altyn Air Tu-134A with 88 people aboard in Osh during a foggy December night. Twenty-five people on the 37-year-old plane were injured.<\/p>\n Still, by November 2013, Toktobekov\u2019s successor as director of civil aviation, Erkin Isakov, was saying<\/a> Kyrgyzstan\u2019s air carriers had made improvements and were planning for their removal from the EU air safety list in 2014.<\/p>\n But that did not happen and, if anything, the situation worsened. According to a report<\/a> from RFE\/RL\u2019s Kyrgyz service in November 2019, most of Kyrgyzstan\u2019s aircraft were unfit for use and only nine of 32 planes were flying at that time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n As this advert relates, new state carrier\u00a0Asman Airlines (not to be confused with Iran’s Aseman Airlines)\u00a0is the great hope for aviation officials in the country determined that Kyrgyzstan’s airlines are “going places” (Credit: Asman Airlines).<\/strong><\/p>\n The hopes of the civil aviation head at the time, Kurmanbek Akyshev, were, however, not dampened. Negotiations, he said, were under way with the EU that would lead to the end of the blacklisting.<\/p>\n \u201cThe implementation of the step-by-step plan for exiting the \u2018blacklist\u2019 is 96% complete,\u201d Akyshev said, adding, \u201cA month ago, we were visited by two experts from the European Commission, who left recommendations on the final revision of our plan.\u201d Akyshev announced that a new petition would be handed over to the EU at the start of 2020 on excluding Kyrgyz airliners from the EU\u2019s skies.<\/p>\n Again, the ban remained.<\/p>\n Closer than ever?<\/strong><\/p>\n In November 2024, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov declared<\/a> during an official visit to Berlin that\u00a0 his country\u2019s airlines would soon be removed from the blacklist. Japarov met with Johan Pelissier, president of Region Europe and head of Commercial Europe for Commercial Aircraft at Airbus to discuss support for Kyrgyzstan\u2019s national airline, Asman Airlines, in leasing two Airbus aircraft.<\/p>\n In February this year, the current director of the Civil Aviation Department, Daniyar Bostonov, told<\/a> a press conference that Kyrgyzstan\u2019s airliners have \u201csuccessfully passed two audits on flight safety and aviation security for two years.\u201d<\/p>\n Bostonov said: \u201cWe are fully prepared to exit the blacklist this year. The rest depends on the EU.\u201d<\/p>\n At the start of April, Bostonov\u2019s deputy, Kanat Tologonov, told<\/a> a parliamentary committee that the European Commission conducted an audit in March, \u201cthe first of its kind in our history.\u201d \u201cIf we pass all the checks successfully,\u201d Tologonov continued, \u201ca decision will be made in May 2026 to remove Kyrgyzstan from the blacklist.\u201d<\/p>\n Kazakh expert brought in<\/strong><\/p>\n At the start of May, there was an announcement<\/a> that Kyrgyzstan had hired the former director of the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan (AAK), Catalin Radu, as a consultant.<\/p>\n Radu, a former president of the European Civil Aviation Conference and founder of the Eurasian Civil Aviation Conference, with more than 25 years in the aviation industry, was appointed the AAK chief in April 2022.<\/p>\n In 2009, the EU put Kazakhstan\u2019s airlines, with the exception<\/a> of Air Astana, on the air safety list. The restrictions were lifted in 2016, but for years various Kazakhstani carriers reappeared on the blacklist or on an enhanced monitoring list.<\/p>\n In May 2024, the EU fully lifted<\/a> all restrictions on Kazakh flight carriers. Kazakh authorities said<\/a> Radu \u201cplayed a key role in removing Kazakhstan\u201d from the EU enhanced monitoring list and presented him with a special award for his contributions to civil aviation in Kazakhstan.\u201d<\/p>\n Radu stepped down<\/a> from his post in Kazakhstan in March.<\/p>\n Return of direct flights?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sixteen Kyrgyz carriers feature on the most recent list<\/a> of airlines banned from flying to EU countries.<\/p>\n Tologonov said<\/a> in April that he expected a \u201cdecision will be made in May 2026 to remove Kyrgyzstan from the blacklist.\u201d<\/p>\n Bostonov said<\/a> in February: \u201cIt is no longer a question whether we will be removed from it or not. We will definitely be removed.\u201d<\/p>\n Before Kyrgyzstan was put on the EU Air Safety List, Kyrgyz airlines flew<\/a> routes to London, Birmingham, Frankfurt am Main, Munich, Hannover, Hamburg, Stuttgart, and Amsterdam.<\/p>\n There are questions about how popular direct flights to Europe will be. It is already possible to reach Europe from Kyrgyzstan by flying via Turkey or the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n Kyrgyz airlines are also able to fly to cities in Asia and Middle East.<\/p>\n