The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has said that the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation has removed the red flag against Thailand over safety concerns. The Thai airlines immediately saw a sharp rise in its share prices.
In June 2015, Thailand was downgraded as its regulator missed a deadline to resolve significant safety concerns – which meant that Thailand failed to add any more international routes, although they did continue to operate the routine flights.
The CAAT said on its website,” although lifting the red flag is a significant turning point for her aviation industry, Thailand as well as CAAT need to carry on their missions to improve the aviation safety standards.”
With the removal of the red flag, Thai Airways could now initiate new flights to Japan, China and South Korea. Smaller carriers, such as Thai AirAsia X, NokScoot and Thai Lion would be the biggest beneficiaries of the decision as they can now expand their flight routes.
International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit is a benchmark for global safety management in airlines and Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways, Thai Lion and NokScoot have passed the test.
