As recently speculated, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has condemned as inadequate the safety oversight mechanisms of five Thai operators namely Orient Thai Airlines (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi), NokScoot (Bangkok Don Mueang), Jet Asia Airways (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi), City Airways (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) and R Airlines (RCT, Bangkok Don Mueang).
According to the National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT), the Chinese regulatory body carried out an inspection of Thai carriers serving/hoping to serve China during which time they uncovered alleged anomalies in the airlines' flight documentation, aircraft MRO procedures, and staff training standards.
Concerns reportedly range from inadequately maintained aircraft MRO logs to an insufficient number of suitably trained staff.
The Thai Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) has committed itself to rectifying the shortcomings identified during the CAAC audit.
Thailand's failure to pass its most recent ICAO-sanctioned Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) inspection in January has lead to a myriad of problems with neighbouring countries now subjecting Thai airlines to stringent safety checks and monitoring.
The DCA will this week submit its action plan to the ICAO for scrutinization and appraisal following which a decision concerning its suitability will be made next month.
