The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has removed a safety “red flag” against Thai carriers since 2015.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said that the ICAO passed the decision after its meeting on October 6.
Although the ICAO has yet to give any official announcement, however, the red flag symbol on Thailand name disappeared on its official website.
The lifting of “red flag” status indicates that Thailand has dealt with the problems of under-standard of aviation safety. But Thailand as well as CAAT needs to carry on their missions to improve the aviation safety standards, CAAT said.
Since June 2015, the ICAO lowered aviation safety status of Thai carriers after its regulator missed a deadline to resolve significant safety concerns, which triggered restrictions on Thai carriers launching new international routes.
Therefore, the new decision of the ICAO will enable Thailand to open new international routes to China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
The CAAT also expects the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to recover aviation safety status for Thai carriers, which was also downgraded in 2015.
Shares of Thai Airways and other related companies have risen upon the information.
Aviation safety is particularly important for Thailand given that tourism accounts for around 12 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
Other countries which still have the red flags against them in the ICAO list include Djibouti, Eritrea, Haiti, Kyrgyzstan and Malawi.-VNA
