Australian watchdog turns up heat on Thai Airways, after bans in other countries

THAI Airways is still flying direct in and out of Australia 45 times a week despite bans being imposed by three other countries, including China, Japan and South Korea.

The bans on charter flights and new routes operated by the airline followed safety concerns raised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) after an audit of Thai Airways.

A Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman said they were aware of the issues raised by ICAO in relation to Thailand, and had requested further detailed information.

“Thai Airways is the only airline from Thailand regularly operating into Australia,” said the spokesman.

“CASA is making contact with Thai Airways in relation to these issues.”

He said the safety body had increased the number of ramp inspections of Thai Airways’ flights operating into Australia.

“These inspections look at the condition of the aircraft as well as flight and aircraft documentation,” the spokesman said.

“At this stage, CASA has not placed any additional restrictions on Thai Airways’ flights to and from Australia.

“This is subject to the results of increased surveillance and any additional information that may be provided by Thai Airways and the Thai air safety regulator.”

Any request for additional flights by Thai Airways would be considered in light of the issues raised by ICAO and CASA’s surveillance and safety checks, said the spokesman.

Australian aviation safety expert Neil Hansford said ICAO had been issuing warnings to the Thai Government since 2009.

“The Thai government has been incapable of providing (the airline) with the oversight needed to operate to international safety standards,” he said.

“It’s just another example of the aviation industry growing more quickly than regulators can handle in that part of the world.”

Mr Hansford said in the case of Indonesia, orders had been placed for 500 additional aircraft even though existing infrastructure was inappropriate for current numbers.

“The Indonesians have already been found to be lacking and incompetent in the area of aviation,” he said, referring to restrictions by European regulators. “The system is broken.”

ICAO’s concerns with Thai Airways are believed to relate to air operator certification processes.

The bans imposed by China, Japan and South Korea are likely to impact 150,000 travellers in the next two months.

Thai Airways most recent major safety incident was in 2013, when an A330 arriving from Guangzhou had a runway excursion while landing at Bangkok, with extensive damage to the plane and tarmac.

All passengers and crew evacuated with no serious injuries.