Thailand regains Category 1 safety rating from US FAA

Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), via its official Facebook account, announced (22-Apr-2025) the US FAA upgraded Thailand's aviation safety rating from Category 2 to Category 1. The upgrade follows a comprehensive reassessment by the FAA, which commenced in Nov-2024 and included the identification of 36 findings requiring corrective action. As previously reported by CAPA, Thailand previously held a Category 1 rating since 1997 but was downgraded by the FAA in 2015 due to non-compliance with ICAO standards. The upgrade will enable Thai carriers to launch new routes to the US and participate in codeshare agreements with US carriers. CAAT will now implement the following to prepare for the next phase of US flight operations:

• Reviewing the open skies agreement with the US Department of Transportation;
• Ongoing compliance under the IASA programme, including maintaining "robust" safety oversight standards to ensure continued alignment with international benchmarks;
• Coordination with the US TSA to engage in joint assessments. A scheduled assessment is expected to take place during 2Q2025 and 3Q2025.