After plane crashes in Nigeria and Ghana killed over 160 people last week, increasing concerns over Africa’s safety record have resulted in Western governments banning dozens of airlines operating in Africa.

African airlines in turn have urged Western governments to do more to improve safety in Africa, and accused the European Union of failing to grasp the continent’s needs.

The head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents most major airlines, said a list of operators banned from the EU included several that are safe, that and the EU failed to aid others needing practical help.

“The airlines on the EU blacklist are on it because the EU hasn’t adequate confidence in the safety oversight provided by regulatory authorities, so the airline can be perfectly safe but the EU decides the regulator isn’t doing its job,” said IATA’s Tony Tyler, director general of the Geneva-based airline lobby.

IATA says its members must pass a tough check-up called the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). Airlines in the scheme, which also contains many non-IATA members, had a 53 percent better safety record last year than ones outside it, Tyler said.

“This is why we think the EU banned list is a misguided approach. It is not helping anybody and it is not improving safety.”

The latest EU blacklist includes 279 carriers from 21 states, 14 of which countries are African.

The list includes a handful of IATA members including Sudan Airways and part of the fleet operated by Air Madagascar.