Transport gears up for ICAO checks
Suvarnabhumi ‘highly likely’ to be targeted
The Transport Ministry is gearing up for a 2017 inspection of airports by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which from next year will launch new checks on airports worldwide.
Transpor t Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said the fresh inspections by the UN-based agency will be conducted under the Universal Security Audit Programme Continuous Monitoring Approach (USAP CMA).
The ICAO’s USAP CMA programme will focus on the Office of Civil Aviation (OCA) in the area of airport security standards, he said. It covers eight issues including laws on aviation safety, airport security protocol and personnel training.
Mr Arkhom said the Transport Ministry has asked the cabinet to approve the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the USAP CMA programme between ICAO and Thailand.
The cabinet has also been asked to give full authority to the transport minister or the director of the OCA in singing the MoU with ICAO on behalf of the Foreign Ministry, he said.
According to Mr Arkhom, the fresh inspections are scheduled to proceed in 2017 and every airport in the country must be prepared for the checks.
“Every airport in the country will be inspected by the OCA [to ensure they are ready]. The USAP CMA is expected to begin in 2017 but they will inform us 120 days in advance. We need to prepare for this,” he said.
Mr Arkhom said aviation laws will be improved and every airport will be inspected by the OCA and required to fix problems.
Thailand has 38 airports. Six are supervised by the Airports of Thailand; 28 are run by the Airport Department; three are private airports (Samui, Sukhothai and Trat); and the other is run by the navy.
He said the cabinet has also been told of measures taken to address concerns raised by the European Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) which recently audited the standards of the Airport Department and the OCA.
He also said the cabinet agreed to the OCA signing an aviation safety deal with Easa and approved a budget of 100 million baht for this. The agreement involves academic cooperation to boost aviation safety.
“The Transport Ministry and the OCA are expected to come up with the details by next month,” he said.
Charoon Meesomboon, deputy director-general of the Airport Department, said the country will receive key questions as a framework before the inspections proceed.
He said random inspections of airports can be expected and Suvarnabhumi airport is highly likely to be the chief target of the USAP CMA inspection programme.
“We will speed up our efforts to solve the problems before the 2017 inspection. The biggest concern is a shortage of staff at 28 airports. We need 100-200 more,” he said.