Thailand: Tighter licensing likely to limit new airlines

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand's board has moved to tighten requirements to qualify for Air Operating Licences in a bid to control the number of airlines operating in the country. CAAT's acting director Chula Sukmanop said it is necessary to toughen the criteria for AOL applicants. According to Chula, the Transport Ministry will announce the ministerial directives on the revised requirements which will allow the authority to not only assess the financial health of applicants but also prevent the use of proxies. A screening committee, to be chaired by the CAAT's director, will also be set up to review and decide if the applicants meet various requirements. Its findings will be forwarded to the transport minister who is empowered to grant AOLs, he said. <br/>