The European Union has included the Russian airline Skol on the “black list” of airlines that are banned from flying in the community’s airspace. 

As stated on the website of the European Commission, such a decision regarding the airline was made “out of fears that it will not be able to meet international safety standards.”

Skol became the first Russian airline to be included in the black list of unsafe carriers in the EU. There are 97 airlines in total at the moment; most of them are from Africa and the Middle East.

Skol Airlines was established in 2000 and is now based in Kaliningrad. The core of its fleet is made up of helicopters that fly in Siberia for oil and gas companies.

In the summer of 2021, Skol announced the launch of regular flights between Kaliningrad and Minsk, but at the moment these flights are not operated. The company’s website also lists Pskov, Riga, Gdansk and Berlin as promising passenger destinations .

(C)UNIAN 2021