The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) insists it will have the last word on whether Business Air will fly again, despite a court ruling in favour of the financially strapped carrier.
The Business Air crew is ready but aviation regulators are not, at least not yet. (File photo)
Safety comes first when it comes to approving any airline flight operations, said Somchai Piputvat, the DCA director-general.
The Central Administrative Court on Friday granted an injunction sought by Business Air against a DCA order to suspend its services from Jan 16.
The suspension stemmed from the airline's failure to pay overdue traffic control fees to Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Co (Aerothai). As a result, 800 Thai passengers were left stranded at South Korea's Incheon airport, along with another 800 preparing to depart for Korea from Suvarnabhumi airport.
The airline later proved that it had cleared the debt worth 1.66 million baht with Aerothai on Jan 15.
The court also accepted testimony that the DCA, Aerothai and Business Air had agreed last December that the airline could continue its services even with one aircraft but it would need a proper contingency plan.
Business Air had three planes but two were suspended because of substandard conditions. Minimum flight safety requirements call for an airline to have at least two operational planes, Mr Somchai said.
Business Air holds licences for regular international flights and charter services. It had asked the court to overrule the DCA's service suspension order and stop the process of revoking Business Air's service licence.
Mr Somchai acknowledged that the court order meant Business Air was considered to still have aviation rights. However, his department has the authority to approve its flight schedule based on aviation safety.
Thai travel agencies have agreed to pay the cost of accommodation, returned tickets and package tours to passengers stranded because of the Business Air suspension. Tour operators said they had more bookings with the carrier running into March, and total damages could reach 300 million baht.