Yemenia Airways could face blacklist: France

PARIS, July 3 (Xinhua) -- France's Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau warned on Friday that Yemenia Airways could be on the blacklist of banned airlines in Europe unless it makes "very big efforts."

"If it does not want to go on the blacklist, Yemenia Airways will have to make big efforts, very big efforts," Bussereau told RTL radio, adding that the company was under strict observation.

A Yemenia Airbus A310 crashed into the Indian Ocean off the Comoros on Tuesday, killing 152 people. The plane was banned in France after one inspection found numerous faults in the plane in 2007.

Yemen's transport minister on Thursday rejected "unfair" European criticism of Yemenia's safety standards.

Bussereau was scheduled to meet Yemenia officials later on Friday in Paris.

The EU's blacklist will be available later this month on the website of the French aviation authority, Bussereau said.