SUVARNABHUMI

Airport denied seal of approval

Will continue to operate despite many 'structural, management' faults

Confidence over the safety of Suvarna-bhumi Airport has suffered another major blow, with aviation authorities yesterday refusing to extend its interim Aerodrome Certificate. The certificate, which shows an airport meets international safety requirements, expired on Thursday.

Civil Aviation Department officials said they had received phone calls from international pilots expressing concern after learning about the department's decision to leave Suvarnabhumi in a certification "no man's land".

Department director-general Chaisak Angsuwan said the decision stemmed from multiple structural and management problems at the airport.

Pavement cracks on runways, taxiways and tarmacs are scattered over about 100,000 square metres of the airfield, forcing partial closure for repair work over the past few weeks. The next closure for repair of the eastern runway was planned for four hours early today.

"We also found management problems," Chaisak said. "For example, the aerodrome operation manual that provides instruction for airport maintenance and accidents still contains incorrect information, which could cause confusion for operators, especially in case of emergencies."

However, Chaisak said the lack of an Aerodrome Certificate would not lead to the airport's closure because Suvarnabhumi is operated under a local licence, just like Don Muang and other airports in Thailand.

The Aerodrome Certificate is a recent attempt by the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation to standardise airport operations around the world, but Thailand has not yet issued a law to respond to this new requirement.

While no airport in Thailand has been certified, eight airports in Malaysia have obtained the certificates, as well as two in Singapore, two in the Philippines and one in Hong Kong. Eight in South Korea, one in North Korea and 93 in Japan have also been certified.

Chaisak said the interim certificate issued by his agency to Suvarnabhumi six months ago in response to the rush to open the airport for domestic flights in July, and the official opening in September, had no legal foundation.

"We are updating our legal system for aviation, hopefully this year," he said. "Until then, Airports of Thailand [operator of Suvarnabhumi] has time to improve the airport and we can start the certification process anew."

However, Suvarnabhumi being left in a state of certification "no man's land" has concerned some pilots. A professional Thai pilot told The Nation the lack of certification would affect confidence in the international pilot community about the safety of Thailand's brand-new airport.

"If I were a foreign pilot, how could I trust that I would be given the right instruction when I had to fly in and out of an airport without international recognition?" he said. "And I would be particularly concerned if I had to deal with disruptive weather or other emergencies. I don't know who has to bear responsibility in the event a wrong decision is made."

Nantiya Tangwisutijit

The Nation Thailand
Saturday January 27, 2007