Turkmenistan's national air carrier to fly to Europe after suspension of ban

Turkmenistan's national air carrier has scheduled flights to the United Kingdom and Germany again following a ban imposed in February by European Aviation Authorities. Flights to the English city of Birmingham and Germany's Frankfurt beginning on June 1 appeared on Turkmenistan Airlines' schedule late Friday. Flights were not listed to Paris, another destination the airline flew to regularly. "We have no confirmation regarding Paris," a Turkmenistan Airlines spokesman told AFP on Saturday.

The resumption of flights was not mentioned on the European Aviation Safety Agency's website as of Saturday. Hundreds of passengers were left stranded in Britain in February after the EASA suspended Turkmenistan Airlines over safety concerns.

The isolated Central Asian republic's flag carrier provides services from London and Birmingham to the Indian city of Amritsar which is popular with Britain's Punjabi community. The UK Foreign Office said in a February travel advisory that EASA had "suspended Turkmenistan Airlines flights to and from the EU pending confirmation that it meets international air safety standards." Turkmenistan is an energy-rich, authoritarian former Soviet state with a poor human rights record and state-controlled media. The government-run airline was created in Turkmenistan's first full year of independence in 1992. 

(With inputs from agencies.)