ICAO identified 572 findings related to the ICAO Protocol Questions (PQs), with 33 directly linked to the SSC. As a result, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded Thailand to Category II status, imposing restrictions on Thai carriers flying to the US. Other countries, including Japan, South Korea, and China, followed suit, further limiting Thai carriers’ access to international markets.

With more than 20% of its GDP reliant on travel and tourism, Thailand recognised the urgent need to address these international safety concerns and improve its aviation safety oversight to safeguard the country’s aviation reputation.

In response, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) enlisted CAA International (CAAi) in 2016 to assist in strengthening its aviation safety oversight and ensure compliance with ICAO standards. CAAT sought support with the recertification of registered international air operators and preparation for a future ICAO audit.

In May 2016, the CAAi technical team conducted an initial project briefing with CAAT to assess the state of Thailand’s aviation safety oversight. Through collaborative discussions, both teams identified significant gaps in procedures and processes and fragmented regulations that did not align with ICAO Annex requirements. CAAT recognised that without the necessary regulations in place, any recertification efforts in accordance with ICAO standards could be rendered invalid.

Additionally, CAAT acknowledged the shortage of qualified inspectors and technical resources, which posed a critical challenge to the successful implementation of the recertification process. This shortage threatened to prevent CAAT from effectively carrying out the recertification programme, undermining their ability to achieve long-term sustainability in aviation safety oversight.

In partnership with CAAT, CAAi began by drafting new procedures and checklists to address regulatory gaps in key areas such as operations, cabin safety, dangerous goods, and airworthiness. CAAi also identified and trained a sufficient number of qualified inspectors to work alongside its technical experts during inspections. This approach provided on-the-job training, ensuring long-term sustainability and strengthening CAAT’s internal capabilities.

One of the significant challenges CAAi faced was managing the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) oversight process. To streamline this, CAAi implemented an IT solution, Centrik, to support both the recertification work and the oversight process. This allowed the project team to upload checklists, track compliance and non-compliance from inspections, and manage findings effectively.

Once the foundational work for recertification was in place, CAAi commenced the recertification programme with CAAT. Each AOC underwent a document inspection, an onsite inspection, and a flight inspection. Many of the AOC’s documents were initially non-compliant with ICAO regulations, requiring additional resources from CAAi to liaise with both CAAT and operators to resolve these issues.

Leading up to the ICAO Integrated Corrective Action Plan Verification Mission (ICVM) audit, CAAi assisted CAAT in preparing responses to the ICAO Protocol Questions (PQs), ensuring all corrective actions were addressed satisfactorily to meet ICAO’s standards before the audit.

In September 2017, ICAO conducted an ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) audit on Thailand, which confirmed that sufficient progress had been made to lift the Significant Safety Concern (SSC).

The removal of this red flag allowed Thai-registered airlines to resume and expand their international operations, a significant milestone for the country given its heavy reliance on income from travel and tourism.

As a result of successfully addressing the ICAO Protocol Questions during the ICVM, Thailand saw a notable improvement in its aviation safety implementation:

• The effectiveness of “Operations” increased from 10.22% to 38.69%.
• The effectiveness of “Airworthiness” improved from 61.98% to 76.03%.

By October 2017, CAAi had successfully helped CAAT recertify eleven carriers, and the recertification of the remaining nine carriers continued.