The European Commission has cleared Kazakh carrier Air Astana to operate in the European Union. While the European Union Air Safety List still includes Kazakhstan among nations that lack sufficient aviation safety oversight, the commission granted an exception to Air Astana, removing operational restrictions that had been in place since 2009. The commission will “closely monitor future developments” to determine whether to add Thai carriers to its list of restricted carriers. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration recently
downgraded Thailand’s rating for civil aviation standards.