Phuket Air feedback

[Expat]

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”.

O ne 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 Gatwic k 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.”

[Expat]

BANGKOK: Problem-plagued Phuket Air has recruited a British provider of safety training to instill “best practice” throughout every level of its operations.

The deal between Phuket Air and training and development company The Human Factor was announced in London by the founder of The Human Factor, ex-British Royal Air Force pilot George Duncan, and Phuket Air Executive Vice-President Captain Chawanit Chiamcharoenvut.

It is not known how much Phuket Air is paying for the services of Mr Duncan’s company.

Since the middle of April, a Phuket Air plane has been prevented from leaving Sharjah airport in the United Arab Emirates after passengers saw fuel pouring from a wing (the company said the wing had been ‘over-filled’ with fuel); a Bangkok-bound flight had to return to London after developing hydraulics problems; the airline was banned from flying into the UK and the Netherlands after safety inspectors found “ serious” faults on planes, and a plane was impounded at London’s Gatwick airport for non-payment of landing fees.

In addition, the company cancelled its Bangkok-Bali route, claiming that passenger numbers had slumped because the ban on flying from Amsterdam had robbed the Bali service of “feeder” flights.

Mr Duncan outlined The Human Factor’s plans for Phuket Air, saying: “A range of programmes will be rigorously implemented across the supply chain, and across the company, to ensure that best practice in Western European safety and service standards are embedded at all levels – and locations served by the airline.”

The Human Factor’s specializes in reducing human error in “mission-critical” situations, a wide compass that could include anything from an aircraft cockpit to a hospital operating theatre.

Sribenja Semmeesook, Communication Consultant of Phuket Air’s PR company, Aziam Burson-Marsteller, told the Gazette, that the company hoped t hat recruiting The Human Factor would make customers more confident about using Phuket Air.

“I think this training will be good for crews, will make passengers more confident, and will enable us to develop our service, similar to other airlines,” she said.

“This isn’t something that airlines must do by law, but it is the sort of thing done by airlines that want to develop and compete better.”

K. Sribenja added that the company was still working to persuade the Dutch and British civil aviation authorities to overturn the bans on flying to the Netherlands and Britain.

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