Thai airlines escape Europe blacklist

All Thai-registered airlines have avoided being put on the list of airlines with sub-standard safety practices in the latest audit by EASA, Transport minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said Tuesday. EASA, which announced its inspection results last Thursday, found 214 airlines from 19 countries failed to meet safety standards but "no Thai airlines were listed", Arkhom said. The minister attributed the success to a closer working relationship between EASA and the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT). The CAAT was founded to deal directly with inadequate aviation standards, which resulted in Thailand being "red-flagged" by the ICAO last June. Thailand will continue to work with EASA by bringing in agency experts to assess key issues of aviation safety, Arkhom added. <br/>