Action by the Community in the field of air transport should aim, as a priority, at ensuring a high level of protection for passengers from safety risks. Moreover, full account should be taken of the requirements of consumer protection in general.

A Community list of air carriers that do not meet relevant safety requirements should be brought to the notice of passengers so as to ensure the utmost transparency. This Community list should be based on common criteria drawn up at Community level.

Air carriers included in the Community list should be subject to an operating ban. The operating bans included in the Community list should apply throughout the territory of the Member States to which the Treaty applies.

Air carriers that do not enjoy traffic rights in one or more of the Member States may nonetheless fly to and from the Community when their aircraft, with or without crew, are leased by companies that do enjoy such rights. Provision should be made for an operating ban included in the Community list to apply equally to such air carriers, since these air carriers could otherwise operate in the Community while not complying with the relevant safety standards.

An air carrier which is subject to an operating ban could be permitted to exercise traffic rights by using wet-leased aircraft of an air carrier which is not subject to an operating ban, provided that the relevant safety standards are complied with.

The procedure for updating the Community list should allow for decisions to be taken swiftly, in order to provide adequate and up-to-date safety information to air passengers and to guarantee that air carriers that have remedied safety deficiencies are taken off the list as soon as possible. At the same time, the procedures should respect the air carrier’s rights of defence and should be without prejudice to international agreements and conventions to which the Member States or the Community are parties, in particular the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. The implementing measures on matters of procedure, to be adopted by the Commission, should notably cater for these requirements.

When an operating ban has been imposed on an air carrier, appropriate action should be taken with a view to assisting that air carrier in remedying the deficiencies that gave rise to that ban.

Information on the safety of air carriers should be published in an effective manner, such as through use of the Internet.

In order for the competitive framework in air transport to yield the greatest possible benefits for companies and passengers, it is important that consumers receive the necessary information to be able to make informed choices.

The identity of the air carrier or carriers actually operating the flight is an essential piece of information. However, consumers concluding a contract of carriage, which could comprise both an outward and a return flight, are not always informed about the identity of the air carrier or carriers actually operating the flight or flights concerned.

These practices increase flexibility and allow a better provision of services to passengers. Moreover, a certain number of last-minute changes, in particular for technical reasons, is unavoidable and contributes to the safety of air transport. This flexibility should, however, be balanced by verification that the companies actually operating the flights meet safety requirements and by transparency for consumers in order to guarantee them the right of making an informed choice. A fair balance between the commercial viability of air carriers and passenger access to information should be sought.

Air carriers should pursue a policy of transparency vis-à-vis passengers regarding safety-related information. Publishing such information should contribute to passenger awareness of the reliability of air carriers in safety terms.

This Regulation is part of a legislative process pursuing an efficient and coherent approach to reinforcing air safety in the Community, in which the European Aviation Safety Agency plays an important role. With an extension of the competencies of this Agency, such as in respect of third-country aircraft, its role under this Regulation could be further expanded. Special attention should be given to further improving the quality and quantity of safety inspections of aircraft and to harmonising these inspections.

In all other cases, the committee assisting the Commission in its work under this Regulation should act in accordance with the regulatory procedure provided for in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC.

Member States should lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the provisions of Chapter III of this Regulation and ensure that these penalties are applied. The penalties, which may be of a civil or administrative nature, should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

The Commission should analyse the application of this Regulation and, after a sufficient period, report on the efficiency of its provisions.

Any competent civil aviation authority in the Community may decide that air carriers, including those not operating in the territory of the Member States to which the Treaty applies, might lodge a request with that authority to subject the air carrier so requesting to systematic checks in order to verify its likelihood of compliance with the relevant safety standards.

This Regulation should not preclude the Member States from introducing a quality labelling system for air carriers at national level, for which the criteria might include considerations other than minimum safety requirements, in accordance with Community law.

Arrangements for greater cooperation over the use of Gibraltar airport were agreed in London on 2 December 1987 by the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom in a joint declaration by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries. Such arrangements have yet to enter into operation,