"Work is still ongoing with Yemenia, with meetings planned, to understand what the situation is," said a transport spokesman at the European Commission, which manages the list.

Safety deficiencies saw all airlines from Zambia and Kazakhstan added to the list, which contains some 200 airlines or firms which are either banned from operating in Europe or only allowed under restrictions.

Only Kazakh air carrier Air Astana, whose operations into EU nations are frozen under strict restrictions, avoided a complete ban.

EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said last week that an airline should only be placed on the list in response to concrete safety lapses and not on the basis of a single accident.

"It's not one accident that determines whether or not an airline is on the blacklist," he said. "If it has to do with the weather, you can't put the sky on the blacklist."

The commission was investigating safety standards at Yemenia Airways last year and almost put the company on blacklist then, according to an EU legal document.

The document said that unspecified "deficiencies" had been noted during inspections on the company's aircraft in France, Germany and Italy.

It showed that the commission had insisted that Yemenia provide an "action plan" to both it and the 27 EU member states so that they could assess whether the company had addressed safety concerns.

African airlines fare worst

"The commission considers that the corrective actions submitted by Yemenia must be fully implemented and closely monitored," said the text, a legal document from July 24, 2008 updating the blacklist.

When asked about what had happened over the last year, a transport commission spokesman said that the company had complied with its obligations, without elaborating.

The document also showed that Airbus and Yemenia had sealed a contract under which the plane manufacturer would train the company's pilots and engineers.

Under the deal, Airbus was to monitor maintenance and engineering work as well as the operations of Yemenia's aircraft.

The EU's blacklist is regularly updated.

Most of the airlines targeted operate out of Africa, mainly in Angola, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Swaziland.

Some of them do not operate in Europe but their inclusion is bad for business, according to industry experts.

AFP