PARIS - FRANCE warned Yemenia Airways on Friday it must make 'very big efforts' to avoid being blacklisted in Europe following the Airbus crash off the Comoros.

Facing protests from France's large Comoran community, President Nicolas Sarkozy named a former ambassador to Sudan to personally handle requests from grieving families.

Sixty-six French nationals were among the 153 people on board the Yemenia Airbus that crashed in the Indian Ocean Tuesday. A 12-year-old girl is the only survivor.

'This company is under strict surveillance,' said French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau. 'If it does not want to go on the black list, it will have to make big efforts, very big efforts,' he told RTL radio.

Yemenia executives were to meet senior transport officials in Paris after Bussereau spoke of several 'worrisome defects' detected during a maintenance check on the Airbus A310 in 2007.

Yemen's official carrier has rejected criticism of its safety standards.

Yemenia Airways is not on the EU blacklist, which is regularly updated, and contains the names of more than 200 airlines or firms which are either banned from operating in Europe or only allowed under strict restrictions.

French-Comorans have accused Paris of giving them less consideration than the families of victims of Air France Flight 447 last month.

Mr Sarkozy's special envoy Christine Robichon 'will work on the various requests from the victims' families, including the chartering of an aircraft to carry them closer to the crash site,' said a foreign ministry spokesman.

The families want the government to charter a plane for them to attend funeral services in the Comoros, saying bereaved Air France relatives were flown to Brazil after the June 1 crash.

The French government has denied any difference in treatment between families, pointing out that Air France - not the government - flew the relatives of the AF 447 crash to Brazil. -- AFP

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