Emergency numbers:

Paris airport number for families of passengers: +33.1.48.64.59.59
Yemenia Airways emergency number: +967.1.250.833

 

 

Yemeni airline's safety standards questioned 'I wish France had told us' about plane ban, says Comoros minister

Yemen's national carrier insisted, however, it had a strict policy to ensure fleet maintenance and denounced speculation of technical problems following the crash.

Yemenia said in a statement it "implements a strict policy to ensure its aircraft are fully operational, with regular maintenance in line with international standards."

French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said on Tuesday that French inspectors had in 2007 found numerous faults on the plane, an Airbus A310-300, and that the airline was being closely monitored by EU authorities.

"The plane had not since then reappeared in our country," he said.

But Yemenia denounced what it said was "false information and speculation about technical problems" on the doomed plane. "Passenger safety is the top priority on our flights."

Yemenia said it would "never allow one of its planes to take off unless it was in a very good condition," highlighting the fact that this was the first such incident in the history of the airline which was founded in 1961.

The company is 51 percent owned by the government of Yemen, one of the poorest countries on the planet, and 49 percent by Saudi Arabia.