The cabinet has agreed to Thailand signing a declaration on civil aviation with 30 other countries as a way to prevent the Thai aviation industry from being red-flagged over safety fears again.
Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith on Tuesday said the cabinet has given the green light to the ministry to sign the Declaration of Civil Aviation Ministers' Conference with the 30 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
A signing ceremony is scheduled to be held between Jan 31-Feb 1 in Beijing, China.
Mr Arkhom said the declaration aims to certify the aviation safety of all international airports of member countries by 2020.
The declaration will focus on four issues: aviation safety, air traffic management, air accident investigation and human resource development.
Aviation safety will help standardise all aspects of aircraft safety by conducting regular safety assessments under the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme, Mr Arkhom said.
Air traffic management will be implemented in compliance with the Convention on International Civil Aviation, known as the Chicago Convention.
According to the convention, an independent investigation team will be set up to probe air accidents. The panel will be free from interference by either public or private agencies.
As for human resources management, projects will be launched to address aviation manpower shortages.
All of these will help prevent Thailand from being red-flagged by the ICAO again, Mr Arkhom said.
"The aviation safety of international airports in some countries has not been certified yet. However, in Thailand, aviation standards of our six international airports under the supervision of Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) have been assured by the ICAO," Mr Arkhom said.
Besides these six airports, the ministry also plans to standardise the AoT's regional airports and there is a possibility they will be developed into international airports in the future.