The EU on Tuesday banned most of Iran Air's jets from flying to Europe due to safety concerns, emphasizing that the move was not related to U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

The 27-nation bloc also relaxed restrictions on two airlines from Indonesia and put a Surinam airline on its blacklist of carriers the EU believes do not meet international safety standards.

The list of 278 airlines - mostly small operations from Africa and Asia - was established in 2006 and is updated regularly.

Transport Commission spokewoman Helen Kearns said Iran Air's Boeing 727s and 747s, along with its Airbus 320s, have been placed on the EU blacklist following a safety audit. But Kearns denied that the move, which affects two-thirds of Iran Air's fleet, had anything to do with international sanctions.
"We deal purely with safety requirements," she said. "Our controls focus entirely on safety, nothing else."

Iran Air has had trouble properly maintaining its aging Boeing 747 and 727 jets purchased in the 1970s due to a 30-year-old U.S. ban on spare parts.

Kearns said two more Indonesian carriers, Metro Batavia and Indonesia Air Asia, have been removed from the latest list of banned airlines, bringing to six the number of Indonesian airlines allowed to operate in Europe.

Kearns said Surinam's Blue Wings Airlines has also been placed on the revised blacklist. Although the airline does not fly to Europe, it has routes to the Dutch Antilles and French Guiana.

Critics of the list say most of the notorious African fly-by-night cargo outfits still on the EU list have long since been shut down. Many of the others involve air taxi services or small, specialized charter firms that work for mining, oil and gas and other natural resources companies, usually to transport employees to remote work sites.

The crash last month in Cameroon of a chartered plane carrying the entire board of an Australian mining company highlighted the lack of uniform safety standards among the multitude of small aviation operators serving the industry.

(AP)