Global airline industry body IATA has defended the operational safety of Thai Airways International (THAI) and Bangkok Airways in the wake of a blanket scepticism of Thailand's aviation safety standards.
Tony Tyler, director-general of the International Air Transport Association, made the statement adding it is unfair for some countries to restrict new charter and scheduled flights by Thailand-registered airlines to their airports. He said Thai airlines should not be penalised for Thai government regulatory errors raised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Both THAI and Bangkok Airways are long-standing members of IATA and have completed IOSA audits reflecting compliance with over 900 global standards on operational safety, he told the Bangkok Post.
IOSA refers to IATA Operational Safety Audit, the first global standard for safety auditing based on ICAO standards and industry best practices. The audit was developed in cooperation with the US's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Transport Canada, Europe's Joint Aviation Authority and Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
Some 41 airlines hold air operator's certificates (AOC) in Thailand, but only THAI and Bangkok Airways are IOSA-certified and IATA members.
IATA has been requiring its members - 250 airlines comprising 84% of global air traffic - to adopt the IOSA yardsticks.
Mr Tyler's statement came as THAI's aircraft and flight personnel have been subject to a four- to five-fold increase in safety checks by civil authorities at foreign airports, including in Europe.
Japan, South Korea and China started imposing restrictions on Thai carriers late last month, shortly after ICAO identified Thailand as having "significant safety concerns" in its aviation practices.
ICAO, a UN agency, sounded the global alarm after the Thai Civil Aviation Department scored poorly on an ICAO audit earlier this year.
Other countries reacted less severely, randomly scrutinising all in-flight safety elements for flights operated by Thai airlines to their countries.
Besides THAI, other Thailand-registered airlines affected by the flight restrictions are Asia Atlantic, NokScoot, Jet Asia, Asian Air and Thai AirAsia X.
ICAO audits the regulator's compliance with its standards and recommended practices, but not the airlines themselves, said Mr Tyler.
"We hope the Thai government can quickly take remedial action to align with global standards. The aviation industry in Thailand is growing quickly, bringing many opportunities to the Thai economy, particularly in tourism. This should be a national priority," he said.
Travellers should be assured airlines are committed to global best practices in safety, said Mr Tyler.
To make passengers more confident, he encouraged all carriers in Thailand to complete the IOSA audit process.
"And we encourage the Thai government to consider making IOSA a requirement for a Thai AOC," he said.
Carriers on the IOSA registry consistently outperform the industry average safety performance, said Mr Tyler. There are about 400 airlines on the IOSA registry.
The Thai government said it was hammering out a corrective action plan to the satisfaction of ICAO, so that restrictions will hopefully be removed by the end of this year. The government fears other countries will take similar actions against Thai airlines to those taken by Japan, South Korea and China.
The US FAA and European Union could soon come out with actions including a potential blacklist of Thai airlines, which Indonesia faced in 2007 from the EU because of lax safety standards.
If a blacklist took place, US and EU carriers would have to end codeshares with Thai carriers where the Thai carriers were the operating airline.
