Algerian airline company, Air Express Algeria, has been hit with a ban from operating within the EU due to serious safety concerns and failure to meet the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) standards stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The decision was announced by the EU Commission in the EU airlines blacklist issued Tuesday. The Algerian air carrier has been added to the EU Air Safety List including airlines prohibited from flying in the EU airspace due to poor safety oversight.
Since 2006, the EU blacklist has warned travelers about airlines that do not comply with international safety standards. The EU Air Safety Is a strong, internationally recognized tool to help improve the safety of international aviation.
ASL is also seen as a strong preventive tool, because when under scrutiny, countries tend to improve their safety oversight to avoid seeing their air carriers on the list.
Last year, the European Union added Algeria to its list of high-risk countries for money laundering and terrorism financing. The EU decision aligns with a similar move made in 2024 by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global financial crime watchdog.
These measures require European financial institutions to apply enhanced verification of all transactions involving Algerian entities, crippling cross-border payments and affecting the country’s access to international capital markets.
Foreign investors and FATF are seriously concerned about the lack of separation of powers and transparency in business, especially in transactions involving state-owned enterprises and military contracts. The opaque system prevailing in Algeria makes it difficult to trace financial flows which facilitate money laundering operations.
The international community is also concerned about Algerian regime ties and financial support to separatist groups with connections to terrorist networks operating in the Sahel-Saharan region.