City Airways (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) aircraft have been grounded by the Thai Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) after an audit of the airline's maintenance programme revealed several safety violations.

"We were concerned about passenger safety following a report that revealed that City Airways has not been following proper procedures during maintenance on their planes," Santi Pawai, the director of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, told the Phuket Gazette.

The DCA has since instructed authorities in Hong Kong to revoke the carrier's Hong Kong International landing and parking rights. Following the grounding, fellow Thai carrier, R Airlines (RCT, Bangkok Don Mueang), has been used to ferry stranded City Airways passengers to their respective destinations.

Founded in 2011, City Airways had offered scheduled flights between Bangkok Don Mueang, Nanchang International, Hong Kong, Nanjing, and Phuket using a fleet of three B737-400s, only two of which - HS-GTB (msn 23984) & HS-GTE (msn 27087) - have been in service of late.