EU warns Thailand over air safety
(BRUSSELS) - EU regulators on Thursday issued a special warning over travelling on airlines from Thailand but stopped short of following last week's damaging US safety downgrade for a country heavily dependent on tourism.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said Thailand would be closely monitored as it updated the bloc's air safety blacklist.
While "no air carriers from Thailand were added to the Air Safety List at this time ... the Commission and European Aviation Safety Agency will however closely monitor future developments," the Commission said in a statement.
"If the protection of air passengers against safety risks so requires, the Commission could then propose to include one or more air carriers from Thailand in the Air Safety List," it added.
The Commission gave no specific reasons for its action.
US authorities in their decision last week cited a series of shortcomings over "technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, or inspection procedures."
The ruling was a huge setback to the junta of former army chief turned prime minister, Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who in response blamed successive civilian administrations for failing to tackle safety concerns over the last decade.
In the blacklist update for Europe, the European Union added Iraqi Airways but dropped Kazakh carrier Air Astana.
The current EU safety list covers 20 countries and some 230 airlines that are banned from flying Europe's skies.
The countries where airlines are banned outright are -- Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Libya, Mozambique, Nepal, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Zambia.