NewGen Airways, Thailand's largest China-focused charter operator, yesterday became the latest carrier to get its air operator certificates (AOCs) reissued.
It brought the total number of Thai-registered airlines re-audited by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), in compliance with the stringent global standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), to nine operators.
The process of completing AOC re-certification is helping the country overcome its struggle to restore its aviation safety credentials after being red flagged by the UN's aviation watchdog in June 2015.
CAAT director-general Chula Sukmanop told the Bangkok Post yesterday that the airlines re-certified to date represent 98-99% of all international passengers carried by Thai-registered airlines last year.
But there are 12 more Thai-registered carriers that still need to have AOC re-certification and most are likely to miss the CAAT's Aug 31 deadline which would require them to suspend their international flight operations.
But private jet charter firm Mjets might be able to get its AOC re-certified by the deadline if flight proving can be arranged quickly, according to Mr Chula.
Complicating the process is that Mjets has four types of aircraft which require an individual international flight audit by CAAT inspectors.
If Mjets misses the deadline, the company would likely need to suspend international services for only a few days.
CAAT is likely to be able to complete the audit during the first week of September, he said.
It looks certain that Thai VietJet Air (TVJA), Vietnam's low-cost carrier VietJet Air, will miss the Aug 31 deadline and need to temporarily stop international flights.
But the impact may be minimal as TVJA has only one international route -- Bangkok-Hai Phong -- in operation, with four flights a week.
Like other Thai-registered airlines, TVJA's Thai domestic flights are not impacted by the CAAT's directive.
ICAO is due to conduct an audit on CAAT and its efforts to deal with "significant safety concerns'' in the third week of next month.
The official audit result will be released in October, the CAAT chief said.
