Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union prohibited all airlines based in the African nations of Djibouti, the Republic of Congo and Sao Tome and Principe from flying in the bloc while further easing curbs on TAAG Angola Airlines under the latest changes to a list of unsafe carriers.

The EU ban on airlines from Djibouti, the Republic of Congo and Sao Tome and Principe results from “safety deficiencies identified in the system of oversight by the aviation authorities of these countries,” the European Commission, the EU’s regulatory arm, said in a statement today in Brussels.

TAAG, barred in 2007 from the EU and permitted this past July to fly up to 10 times a week solely to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon using only three Boeing Co. 777 aircraft, will now be able to use Boeing 737 planes as well on that route, said the commission. Another change involves letting Ukrainian- Mediterranean Airlines, barred from the 27-nation EU since 2007, use one aircraft to operate in the bloc.

This is 12th update of a blacklist first drawn up by the commission in March 2006 with more than 90 airlines mainly from Africa. The ban already covers carriers from nations including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Indonesia, Liberia, Rwanda and North Korea.

Uniform Approach

Airline crashes in 2004 and 2005 that killed hundreds of European travelers prompted EU governments to seek a uniform approach to airline safety through a common blacklist. The list, updated at least four times a year, is based on deficiencies found during checks at European airports, the use of antiquated aircraft by companies and shortcomings by non-EU airline regulators.

In addition to imposing an operational ban in Europe, the blacklist can act as a guide for travelers worldwide and influence safety policies in non-EU countries. Nations that are home to carriers with poor safety records can ground them to avoid being put on the EU list, while countries keen to keep out unsafe foreign airlines can use the European list as a guide for their own bans.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at jstearns2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 27, 2009 12:07 EST