Air safety plan won’t be ready till 2022
Deadline dovetails with UN watchdog
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) will have an official master plan for air safety ready by 2022, officials have said.
The news comes as the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has been monitoring the Thai authority closely to ensure it comes up with measures to reduce risk.
CAAT director-general Chula Sukmanop announced the deadline for the plan after the aviation authority’s fifth meeting of the year yesterday. He said the authority has floated the idea among government officials and airlines in preparation for mandatory safety policies to be enforced.
The ICAO, the United Nations aviation watchdog, is developing a 2020-2022 global safety plan for civil aviation. Mr Chula said Thailand must adhere to it in full.
Mr Chula said the Thai master plan will feature new performance indexes that air operators must satisfy and will apply to all aviation authorities in the country including Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Ltd, the state-run air traffic operator.
One key addition will be that authorities must immediately inform the CAAT of any mistakes they make, or face penalties. Mr Chula said this is designed to preempt cases of negligence that could lead to accidents.
“We’re holding talks with authorities concerned as it could take a while to get the law changed,” he said. “Next month we will hold another meeting to discuss matters in greater detail and talk about what new standards the CAAT will observe.”
At present, the CAAT adhered to its National Civil Aviation Security Programme, which was last updated in 2016. This requires aircraft operators to submit their security measures to the CAAT for approval. Aircraft businesses must at present abide by the Air Navigation Act BE 2497 (1954).
The act contains penalties for safety violations, such as a failure to submit a journey logbook, or submitting an incomplete logbook to the CAAT. In such cases, the air operator would be fined up to 80,000 baht, face a maximum jail sentence of two years, or both.
“These policies are quite outdated. We need to make changes to conform with the internationally accepted ICAO standards,” Mr Chula said.
The ICAO red-flagged Thailand in June 2015 after it uncovered safety concerns and organisational issues in the country’s aviation industry. It prohibited Thai airlines from establishing new international routes.
It lifted the status in October 2017 after an ICAO audit was conducted on Thailand the previous month.
The ICAO’s latest audit shows the country ranks below the global average in all eight effective implementation categories.
The United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given Thailand Category 2 status since December 2015, shortly after the ICAO imposed its red flag.
The FAA said the country has fallen short in terms of various international standards, for example pilot qualifications.