Thailand’s flag carrier, Thai Airways International has been successfully recertified to the international safety standards of ICAO. Thai Airways is the third of Thailand’s international airlines to receive its AOC recertification as part of CAAT’s recertification programme, in partnership with CAA International (CAAi), the advisory arm of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA).
Dr Chula Sukmanop, Director General of CAAT said, “Thai Airways has long been regarded as the national carrier. The success today should have a significant impact, not only on the company itself but also in the overall confidence of passengers who plan to visit Thailand with Thai carriers.”
CAAi was appointed by CAAT in 2016 to provide full-scale technical assistance, and capacity building in the recertification of all Thai registered international airlines and to support CAAT ahead of its next ICAO audit.
Maria Rueda, Managing Director of CAAi said, “This is another major milestone for CAAT, the Thai aviation and tourism industry. Thai Airways is Thailand’s largest airline, serving 80 destinations in 37 countries. We are delighted to have assisted CAAT in recertifying its flag carrier to ICAO standards, and we remain fully committed to supporting CAAT as we enter the next phase of this significant project”.
Thailand is expected to be audited by ICAO later this year to address the Significant Safety Concern (SSC) finding in 2015. CAAi will be providing audit preparation assistance to CAAT to help resolve the SSC. Through a combination of on and off-site assistance, CAAi will work with CAAT to raise Thailand’s level of effective implementation across all of ICAO’s eight “critical elements”, with the initial focus on the SSC and related areas, ensuring CAAT are in the strongest position for its next ICAO audit.
