Thai owned PC Air whose only aircraft was grounded in Seoul over delayed payment of airport facility fees including refueling expenses may have its licence revoked if found to have violated aviation regulations, Deputy Transport Minister Chatchart Sithipan said on Thursday.
Mr Chatchart said he would invite Department of Civil Aviation director-general Woradej Harnprasert to a meeting Friday to discuss whether the airline had violated aviation laws and whether its temporary licence, which expires on Oct 31, should be revoked.
He would also ask the department to make an assessment again on Oct 31 of whether the airline’s licence should be renewed and whether the Thai carrier would be able to restore people’s confidence in its organisation.
Under Thai aviation law, licences for charter airlines must be renewed every month.
This matter would be a precedent for the ministry to implement more stringent measures in overseeing chartered flight services, he said.
“Initial examination found that the PC Air aircraft could not take off because it owed money for fuel and this resulted in no oil company refuelling it,” the deputy transport minister said.
“The plane was not grounded by authorities at South Korea’s main airport … but it could not fly because it had no fuel.”
The problem caused a lengthy delay in the aircraft's return to Bangkok, upsetting passengers in South Korea and a large number in Bangkok who had booked chartered flights to South Korea.
Many of them are threatening to sue the airline and have demanded action from police and aviation authorities.
PC Air made headlines around the world when it announced it was hiring transsexual hostesses for its only plane.