BANGKOK тАФ ThailandтАЩs airlines are facing bans on new international flights and more inspections after the International Civil Aviation Organization flagged significant concerns about the countryтАЩs aviation safety, officials said on Friday.
The designation of Thailand as a тАЬsignificant safety concernтАЭ has not been announced publicly by the aviation group, a United Nations agency, but governments were informed last week.
Japan has blocked new flights from Thailand since the decision, and South Korea is considering similar measures, officials said. Existing flights are not affected . . .
Among the airlines forced to cancel flights are the low-cost carriers Thai AirAsia X, NokScoot and Asia Atlantic Airline, ThailandтАЩs Department of Civil Aviation said in a statement. The flagship carrier, Thai Airways, is also affected . . .
Jarumporn Chotikasathein, the president of Thai Airways, said the airline would have to cancel тАЬabout fiveтАЭ charter flights planned for the April holiday schedule. He said his airline and other Thai carriers would also undergo increased inspections by regulators from other countries as a result of the groupтАЩs designation . . .
The Thai ministry did not give details of the groupтАЩs concerns or recommendations, but said it planned to inform countries about the status of ThailandтАЩs aviation safety and тАЬthe solutions to fix the faults that were found in the inspection as soon as possible.тАЭ
Thailand was audited by the group in January; its previous assessment was in 2005. The aviation groupтАЩs office in Bangkok referred questions to its headquarters in Montreal, which could not immediately be reached for comment. Kwak Young-pil, an official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in South Korea, said on Friday that the United Nations group made the designation on March 20.
Audits assess a countryтАЩs ability to ensure aviation safety in areas like staff licensing and training, airworthiness, and accident investigation, according to a report by Watson Farley & Williams, an international law firm with a commercial transportation practice.
The Civil Aviation Bureau of Japan informed its Thai counterpart by email this week that it would not allow new charter flights operated by carriers registered in Thailand to fly to Japanese airports. Noriaki Umezawa, a spokesman for the bureau, said the temporary measure was issued because of concerns that the airlines may not meet international safety standards.
The Japanese ban covers any тАЬchange of aviation services,тАЭ the Thai civil aviation department said, and also bars airlines from changing the type of aircraft normally used on scheduled routes.
South Korea said it was considering a similar ban. Mr. Kwak, the transportation official, said it was highly unlikely that new flights would be approved. NokScoot had been planning to start flights to SeoulтАЩs main airport, Incheon, in May. Mr. Kwak said flights currently operating between Thailand and South Korea would not be affected.
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