Phuket Air not longer welcome on Dutch soil
 

Today the Dutch aviation authorities (IVW) suspended all landing rights for Phuket Air with immediate effect. The landing rights are suspended after the IVW found one of the operating Phuket Air pilot without the required medical certificate. Phuket Air was warned by the IVW that should adhere more to the international regulations.

165 passengers are stranded in Bangkok and at this moment there is no solution to get the people back to Amsterdam. Earlier this week Phuket Air decided to operate 3 instead of 2 weekly flights between Bangkok and amsterdam

Source: www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl (dutch only)

I was wondering how long that would take .

Under the new EU regulations that theoretically should mean that all EU states will also ban Phuket Air. We'll see...

How Long Can It Last
 

Seems like Phuket Air may have to give up some of its International ambitions. Will it survive?

Is the Phuket Air 747 sitting on the cargo ramp at LGW now a permanent resident?

yes wiggy still there this afternoon. Rumour is the sheriff has slapped some notices onto the side.

From the DOT website
Konkordski looks like the EU rules do work :ok:

Anyone any idea what the current market value of a rather tired B747-300 in need of some TLC might be?

TOO

I don't see how as the UK banned Phuket Air before the Dutch did. Moreover some rumours suggest they'll go to BRU instead of AMS...

Meanwhile around 600 pax are stranded (the fortunate being those stranded at AMS) and given the holiday season it's very difficult to rebook those pax

So far as I am aware there are no current EU regulations which automatically means that all EU states will also have to ban Phuket Air. However, a Directive which Member States have to implement by April next provides that the European Commission may propose the extension of one Member State's ban to the whole of the EU but it is not automatic.

Looking at the revision date of the DfT website it appears that they revoked their permit for Phuket Air before the Dutch ban. However, I expect that there has been close liaison between the authorities in both states.

What worries me as a pax is the fact that a respectable tour operator such as TUI uses these flying coffins to transfer its clients to their holiday destination.

A (dutch) spokesman of TUI announced today that he was aware of technical problems with Phuket Air, but was surprised by the swift action of the authorities, which according Phuket Air was too premature (this was quoted by the TUI spokesman). :hmm: :yuk:

International civil aviation is governed by the Chicago Convention. Under the Convention, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is responsible for establishing minimum safety standards which contracting states are required to implement. States are required to recognise the certificates issued by other contracting states unless they have reason to believe that they have not been issued in accordance with ICAO standards. ICAO also audits contracting states' aviation authorities to help identify and address any deficiencies in the implementation of international standards.

Any airline from outside the EU, Iceland, Norway or Switzerland which wishes to pick up or put down passengers or cargo in the UK requires a permit from the Secretary of State for Transport. It is a condition of the permit that the airline should be operated in accordance with international safety standards established by ICAO.

If we have doubts about whether an aircraft or airline complies with international safety standards we will arrange for the aircraft to be inspected by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Permits may be refused, and existing permits suspended or revoked by the Secretary of State. This may occur where there is a breach of a permit condition, which would include non-compliance with international safety standards; however action can also be taken for reasons other than safety. Permit decisions will be reviewed in the light of new information or changed circumstances.

Currently the Secretary of State is refusing or would refuse to issue permits to aircraft operated by the airlines listed below because of evidence that they are not receiving adequate regulatory oversight from their national aviation authorities.

Any airline from Equatorial Guinea

Any airline from Liberia

Any airline from Tajikistan

Any airline from Sierra Leone

Any airline from Democratic Republic of the Congo

Air Mauritanie (Mauritania)

Any Airline from Swaziland

In addition, the Secretary of State has suspended the permit of Phuket Airlines (Thailand) because of operational safety concerns.

It should be noted that these airlines may be permitted to offer services to the UK, and issued with a permit, if these services are contracted out and operated by another airline.

The Department does not review the safety of airlines which do not operate to the UK; however, if information is available on such airlines it will be reflected in the Foreign Office's country specific travel advice, which can be found at:

http://www.fco.gov.uk

From another forum it would appear that an expired medical licence may have been part of the reason for the Dutch ban.

As for the UK decision maybe the three aborted takeoffs and the hydraulic problem did not help their case.

Also the company was under investigation in Thailand earlier last month.

BANGKOK (TNA, Gazette): The Ministry of Transport has promised to launch a probe into the budget airline, Phuket Air, following a 24-hour delay in a flight from Bangkok to London which left more than 400 passengers stranded on April 11.

The seriousness with which the ministry is treating the matter was highlighted by the response of Deputy Transport Minister Phumtham Vejjayachai, who immediately convened a meeting of Phuket Air executives and officials from the Department of Aviation.

Speaking after the meeting, K. Phumtham said that he had ordered the department to closely inspect all of the airline’s fleet the same day.

Over the past four weeks, the airline’s planes have malfunctioned – or been thought to have malfunctioned – on five occasions.

Firstly, I am not posting to defend the actions or inactions of Phuket Airlines – I don’t know enough about it.

Second, imho, emotive and inaccurate language like "flying coffins" is unhelpful and should be confined to the tabloids. The balance of probability would suggest that flying with Phuket Airlines is/was safer than the car journey most of the passengers took to get to the airport.

Ok, it’s a rumour network, but isn’t it’s also supposed to be professional…

Spearing Britney
It would appear that the Dutch and UK Civil Aviation authorities have a different view and their action is not a rumour and one hopes totally professional

The pilot concerned in the medical licencing issue was a phillipines registered pilot. The phillipines aviation authority clearly state that his medical cert is valid for 12 months. His licence was in date, it appears that the dutch put their own 6mth ruling and applied it to him. The dutch reacted way to quickly and have cost the company millions, more importantly all of the staff i guess, there jobs are now at risk.
I know this is a rumour network, but some of you quite shamefully make comments about an organisation or its workers without knowing the facts. By the way i am not a Phuket Air man, iv'e got nothing to do with them, i just took some time out to find out the facts.

Tigs2

You are right on the money.

Add in:

1. Pilot age over 40 years.
2. PHIL DCA CPL held with B747C type annotated
3. Pocessed current Thai DCA validation for B747C
4. ICAO can not make "regulations" for States - they can, however, make "recommendations" for contracting" States. It is up to the issuing authority( in this case Thai DCA) to deem a license/medical valid.

So, see point 3.

Having viewed the ICAO recommendations, the confusion is understandable.

Remember, a camel is a horse designed by a committee.:D

@flyburg

Why is your Dutch / JAA Medical class 1 valid for 12 months and mine (over 40) only for 6 months ? :D





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And as a finishing touch, God created the Dutch :ok:

Oeps,

My bad. post deleted

Haven't reached that age yet, but you're right about God and the Dutch :ok:

More Phuket Air woes
 

They seem to be doing their best to bankrupt themselves, don't they!

Subj: Gazette News: Phuket Air quietly barred from UK
Date: me
From: [email protected]
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Phuket Air quietly barred from UK

LONDON: Just days before being banned from flying to the Netherlands, Phuket Air was also quietly barred from flying to the UK, it has emerged. One of its aircraft has also been seized for non-payment of landing fees at London's Gatwick Airport.

The website of the UK Department for Transport (DFT) says that 'the Secretary of State has suspended the permit of Phuket Airlines (Thailand) because of operational safety concerns.'? The statement was last modified on April 28.

The airline joins others on the UK blacklist, including airlines from Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Tajikistan, Sierra Leone, Congo, Mauritania and Swaziland.

The Guardian News Service quoted the DFT as saying the sanction, which is unusual for a mainstream carrier, was a result of 'the number and severity of safety breaches revealed in Civil Aviation Authority inspections'?.

One of the airline's aging Boeing 747 jets is still at Gatwick Airport, impounded by the airport's operator, BAA, for non-payment of landing fees.

The Guardian News Service said that BAA confirmed it was refusing to allow a Phuket Air plane to leave Gatwick until the carrier had paid its bills, although it declined to say how much money was at issue. The news service, however, quoted 'industry sources' as saying the amount owed was more than £100,000 (7 million baht).

The airline's website makes no mention of either ban, and both London and Amsterdam are still listed on its international flight schedule.

Sribenja Semmeesook, Communication Consultant of Aziam Burson-Marsteller, the public relations agency for Phuket Air, told the Gazette today, 'In fact, since the tsunami there have been fewer people traveling from the UK to Phuket, so Phuket Air suspended flights to and from Gatwick in the middle of April.

'As for the Amsterdam route, Phuket Air staff are now talking with the Netherlands authorities, and we expect a positive result soon.'

Asked about the seizure of the 747 at Gatwick, she said, '[Landing fees are] a financial matter so I am unable to comment on that. However, I do know that the jumbo jet was parked at Gatwick at the end of April because of mechanical problems. As soon as all the repairs have been done the plane will be brought back to Thailand.'

Phuket Air
 

Just departed Kansai and saw a Phuket Air 747 loading up with troops. I could not make out where the troops were from but it looked like they may have been on their way to Iraq.