Thailand To End 'open Sky' Policy

[waerth]

Pesky foreigners are overcrowding our airports and straining our infrastructure so lets limit them so we do not have to improve our infrastructure ........ LOL (it also solves Thai Airways having to deal with competition)

 

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/570275/thailand-to-end-open-sky-policy

 

Thailand will restrict the number of incoming flights as they are overloading its skies and airports, Transport Minister Prajin Juntong said on Friday. The minister said the move away from the "open sky" policy was needed to ensure aviation safety. Staff were now working on the full details."Our sky cannot provide space for more flights. To ensure safety and prevent aircraft collisions, we must limit the use of our sky, manage flight schedules and re-organise flights to times of light traffic to prevent congestion in some periods. The problem must be solved quickly," ACM Prajin said.

 

Immediate changes were necessary because International Civil Aviation Organization representatives would arrive in Thailand again next year as part of the ICAO's universal security audit programme, he said. If Thailand once again did not meet the ICAO's safety standards it would worsen the existing problems facing the Thai aviation industry, the transport minister said. At present, 800 flights were using Suvarnabhumi airport daily, but it was designed to ideally handle only 600 flights, he said.

 

Under his "Open Sky with Conditions" policy, transport authorities will draw up a plan specifying the acceptable number of visiting flights, and carefully consider the capacities of individual airports to handle these flights, ACM Prajin said. The plan would be proposed to the cabinet for immediate implementation, he said. Voradet Harnprasert, deputy permanent secretary for transport, said details of the new policy would be ready by September.

 

Thailand has applied an open sky policy since 2001 to promote tourism, and the number of domestic and international flights has been rising steadily ever since, he said. Suvarnabhumi airport's capacity had already been exceeded. It was planned to handle 45 million passengers yearly, but was actually handling 50 million, he said.

[My Penis is hungry]

Any bet the countries of the airlines who are "overcrowding" are those that called into question Thai Airlines safety recently?

[waerth]

You would win that bet. Probably also European Airlines (fishery) and maybe the mideast airlines for stealing Thai Airways customers

[YimSiam]

I thought Thai Airways had already given up on competing with other airlines? Certainly has seemed that way on recent flights and when checking prices for the routes I take, virtually all of which involve Bangkok in some way! But I guess it's good to see they plan on some restrictive conditions and so on -while not exactly in the spirit of open competition, it does kind of show that they still intend to try to keep up, any way they can!

[buffalo_bill]

) and maybe the mideast airlines for stealing Thai Airways customers

 

I am one of the stolen customers after 18 years iron loyalty and now flying Etihad .

[Coss]

"At present, 800 flights were using Suvarnabhumi airport daily, but it was designed to ideally handle only 600 flights, he said."

 

does

 

5 people on a scooter

21 in a pickup

122 in a bus

several thousand on a boat

 

sound familiar?

[baa99]

The new airport capacity wasn't any greater than the old! They had several years to add a runway. TIT.

[Flashermac]

If memory serves me, Swampy was designed to handle only 20% more flights than Don Muang. So how many billions of baht were spent for a 1/5th increase?