Cambodia faces ICAO audit

PHNOM PENH The International Civil Aviation Organisation is planning an audit of Cambodia’s aviation authority this November.
Phnom Penh Post reported that the pending review comes just months after an industry report warned that Cambodia’s lax regulations could lead to ICAO blacklisting the country. Thailand was blacklisted earlier this year.
Cambodia fared poorly during its last full audit by the ICAO in 2007, with its rankings substantially below international standards. Navigation services and accident investigations scored below average ratings.
The Sate Secretariat of Civil Aviation spokesman, Sinn Chanserey Vutha, was quoted as saying his organisation had already begun reviewing a questionnaire from ICAO in anticipation of the audit in November.
inside no 4He said the country’s aviation sector had some deficiencies, but the SSCA had improved significantly over the past years.
“Our performance is better than before and we hope that we can solve many of the issues mentioned. But we agree that we cannot be as good as advanced countries.”
He cited: “We are a developing country lacking human resources – we lack human and financial resources. We can’t predict the outcome, but we are worried and we are trying to get a good result.”
The audit comes at a time when international safety officials are reportedly eyeing stronger enforcement in Asian countries due to increasing tourism traffic in the region and a series of accidents.
Thailand faces its first outright ban on increasing international flights following an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation that flagged significant concerns about the country’s aviation safety.
In response Japan, South Korea, and China blocked new flights from Thailand in a move affecting charter services by budget carriers Thai AirAsia X and NokScoot as well as Asia Atlantic Airlines. However, existing flights would not be impacted.
After the ban came into effect, Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau and Thailand’s Civil Aviation Department signed a pact, last month, that now allows charter flights from Thailand to resume until 31 May according to the Minister of Transport Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong. The agreement helped to reduce inconvenience for passengers who had already booked and paid for holidays.
Thai AirAsia X operates its new service, Bangkok to Sapporo, in Japan, using an AirAsia X (Malaysian) aircraft 1 to 31 May.
Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation is expected to remedy its shortcomings by July, and is now providing ICAO with updates twice monthly on progress, but it could take as long as a year for ICAO finally removes its audit alert.

sourced:ttrweekly.com