Thailand's aviation standard likely to be soon upgraded

BANGKOK, September 28 (TNA) - It is expected that Thailand's aviation standard will be soon upgraded by the United States' Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), from the existing Category 2 to the Category 1, and by the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 2017. Deputy Transport Minister Ormsin Chivapruck told journalists of the positive prospect on September 27, explaining that Thai Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith is now in Canada for an international aviation meeting and he has learned about the positive prospect. "As far as we have known, it is possible that the US-FAA will soon raise Thailand's aviation standard from Category 2 to Category 1", Ormsin stressed. Ormsin said the FAA's decision, if officially announced, would enable Thai Airways International (THAI), the national flag carrier, to resume its flights to the United States as of next month without waiting for any similarly-positive decision by ICAO. According to the deputy transport minister, major aviation agencies, namely the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), have expressed their appreciation to Thailand's solutions to aviation issues in both the short term and the long term and it is, thus, expected that ICAO should revoke its warning "red flag" imposed on Thailand in 2017. The deputy tranpsort minister acknowledged that Thailand welcomes both ICAO and FAA to help strictly review the Thai aviation standard in their next inspections scheduled for 2017 and 2018. (TNA)