EU AIR SAFETY AGENCY MUST ACT ON BELARUS Today at the Coordinators' meeting of Transport Committee MEPs in the European Parliament, it was agreed that a letter would be sent to the European Commission and Council regarding the urgent need for action concerning the hijacking of a Ryanair flight over Belarussian airspace. They also heard from the European Commission about the upcoming publication of the Air Safety List, a list of air carriers that are subject to an operating ban in the EU. According to Ciarán Cuffe MEP, in addition to the European Commission and the Council, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Eurocontrol must also take action."It is deeply worrying that a scheduled flight between two EU Member States has been forced to divert and land in a Third Country. Belarussian authorities must release the two passengers Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega, who were removed from the flight and are being held against their will. "I welcome the actions of the European Council yesterday evening. However, I believe that both the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the Eurocontrol (the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation) must take action to ensure the safety of flights that overfly Belarus. If this means temporarily diverting flights away from Belarusian airspace, then so be it. Beyond the political implications, there are serious safety concerns, including unscheduled arrivals at airports. We cannot allow this incident to be repeated."Issued: 25th May 2021