Air traffic meeting lands in Bangkok

More than 250 representatives from all 85 air traffic management service providers will attend an international air traffic management conference in Thailand aimed at improving data-sharing systems, according to a Thai aviation chief.

The 22nd annual Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (Canso) meeting will be held in Bangkok from June 7-14, Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, Ltd (Aerothai) chief Sarinee Angsusingha said yesterday.

Canso, a coalition of air traffic management operators, was founded in 1996. It claims its membership currently accounts for over 85% of world air traffic.

The organisation’s members include service providers from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Kenya, Japan and Singapore, among others.

Ms Sarinee said Canso will meet this year to discuss ways to improve international data-sharing systems to keep up with increased air traffic over the next 15 years. This will involve agreements to improve accessibility to other countries’ airway networks, weather reports and various other data.

“The agreements will decrease the likelihood of planes having to change their flight paths mid-air, which means fuel consumption will go down on a global scale, leading to increased environmental benefits,” she said.

“Some information sharing still has to be done manually, which is inefficient; thus, the goal is to digitise all data-sharing systems in air navigation services, especially in light of increased air traffic.”

The Canso meeting is scheduled to be held in Bangkok. According to her, this will be the second time Thailand has hosted the event, with a previous meeting having been held in the city in 2011.

Aerothai reports state Thailand handled around one million flights last year. The number is expected to rise to three million yearly flights in 15 years’ time.

The country has been implementing reforms to its aviation industry ever since the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) gave it a “red flag” in June 2015. That meant Thailand was not able to establish any new international routes until the ICAO removed the flag.

After the organisation again audited Thailand’s airlines last September, the red flag was lifted the following month.

The cabinet had in March approved amendments to a draft ministerial regulation on issuing licences to create airports, proposed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT).

Ms Sarinee said yesterday an air traffic development plan for Thailand is currently being finalised, with discussions with the CAAT still ongoing.