Kyrgyzstan Removed from EU Aviation Blacklist After 20-Year Ban

Kyrgyzstan has been removed from the European Union's aviation blacklist. The country was placed on it in 2006; reforms launched in 2023 enabled its removal in June 2026. State Civil Aviation Agency director Daniyar Bostonov announced this during a lecture for students at the Kyrgyz Aviation Institute named after I. Abdraymov as part of the "Ochuk Kabinet" project.

According to Bostonov, exiting the blacklist required restructuring the oversight system, upgrading inspector qualifications, and implementing new mechanisms meeting international standards. "We began work in 2023, brought in young specialists, sent inspectors for training in Europe, introduced new mechanisms and documentation. They worked day and night, underwent audits," Kabar quoted him as saying.

A final audit was conducted in 2025, and in 2026 Kyrgyzstan defended its position before the EU Transport Committee. Following this, the country was removed from the list.

The agency director named the restoration of the country's international reputation as the principal outcome. According to him, being on the blacklist had negatively affected investment attraction to the aviation sector, aircraft procurement, and its overall development. Bostonov also noted that removal from the list is already having a positive effect on graduates of the Kyrgyz Aviation Institute in the international labor market: they have begun finding employment with foreign airlines.

Work to maintain compliance with international standards and to improve the oversight system, he said, will continue.