News
Thailand hires British safety experts as Bangkok Airways expands
January 29th 2016
Air safety experts from the UK will arrive in Thailand next month to provide three months of training on safety oversight and issuance of air operator certificates (AOCs), acting director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) and Department of Airports director-general, Chula Sukmanop has said. Read More »
The experts will work with the CAAT to help it meet ICAO’s safety requirements. For extra manpower, the regulator plans to hire 315 additional staff to add to the 197 personnel transferred to CAAT from the defunct Department of Civil Aviation (DCA).
Chula said one of the CAAT’s most urgent tasks was to expedite the reissuance of AOCs to 28 carriers operating international flights as well as 2,300 pilot licences. He hopes this would begin in May. Forty one Thai-registered airlines are required to undergo inspection and re-certification.
Thai Airways International (THAI) last week announced it would delay the delivery of 14 aircraft, twelve A350s and two B787s, for three years to reduce operating costs.
Two A350s and the two B787s were to be delivered to THAI this year. "We will negotiate with aircraft makers to postpone the delivery due in 2016 to 2018," THAI CEO, Charamporn Jotikasthira, said. He added the airline aimed to sell 14 planes this year to get close to a fleet of 95 aircraft.
THAI’s situation is in stark contrast to local competitor Bangkok Airways, which took delivery of its fifth ATR72-600 on Tuesday – with another four on order. The airplane will join eight ATR72-500s, eight A320s and eleven A319s in the airline’s fleet. Bangkok Airways has added a sixth daily flight to Phnom Penh and it has signed a reciprocal frequent flyer partnership with India’s Jet Airways.
In other Thai news, THAI hybrid subsidiary, THAI Smile, made the headlines this week after an internal memo was leaked that called for the carrier’s rules and regulations to be changed to allow passengers to purchase seats for life-like dolls that their owners treat as real children – in the belief that the toys possess supernatural powers.
THAI Smile said the dolls, known as Luuk Thep, or Child Angels, may be treated like children because they have undergone a "spiritualisation" process that breathes life into them.
Owners pamper their dolls with branded clothing and accessories convinced that a well-cared-for doll will bring good fortune. The memo said THAI Smile would serve snacks and drinks to dolls with tickets, but they would be barred from sitting in exit rows and must buckle up during take-off and landing.
The kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) responded on Wednesday with a warning to passengers that the lucky dolls could not be considered real people and must be properly stowed before take-off and landing. "Carry-on baggage must be stored inside overhead lockers or underneath the seat," it said. Thai Smile has not denied the leaked memo, but it has not made any formal statement either.
