Next Time You Fly Give These A Miss

By way of a public service announcement you might like to know which airlines are banned from flying into the countries of the European Union due to safety concerns.

All the airlines from these countries are banned: Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, North Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Swaziland. The following airlines are banned from these countries: Afghanistan - Ariana Afghan Airlines, Angola - TAAG Angola Airlines, Sudan - Air West, Surinam - Blue Wing Airlines and Rwanda - Silverback Cargo. Now it's unlikely that any of you will be opting to fly on a cargo airline but be warned, don't send your belongings either.

Clearly if these airlines are banned from flying into Europe then you are unlikely to encounter them unless you are abroad travelling. Top tip; carry a little note in your wallet or on your PDA. However, there's one country that offers a slightly more serious challenge of deciphering who's in and who's out - Kyrgyzstan. Twenty-five of the countries airlines are banned. Despite extensive use of Goggle for the life of me I cannot find out how many airlines the country has in total to give you a list of the one or two you might fly with. Here's the list of the no-goes. Anikay Air, Asia Alpha, Avia Traffic, Bistair-Fez Bishkek, Botir Avia, British Gulf International Airlines, Click Airways, Country International Airlines, Dames, Fab-Air, Galaxy Air, Golden Rule Airlines, Intal Avia, Itek Air, Kyrgyz Airways, Kyrgyz Trans Avia, Kyrgyzstan Altyn, Kyrgyzstan Airlines, Max Avia, OHS Avia, Reem Air, Sky Gate International Aviation, Sky Way, SunLight, Tenir Airlines and Trast Aero.

The intriguingly titled British Gulf International Airlines are in fact based in Sharjah in the Gulf and in May changed their country of registration from Kyrgyzstan to Sao-Tome and Principe. I bet that'll fool the EU!