WASHINGTON, April 24 — The United States (US) Federal Aviation Administration upgraded Thailand's air safety rating to "Category One" on Wednesday, a decade after a downgrade, paving the way for direct US-Thailand flights to resume.
Thai airlines could not launch or expand services to the US, either directly or as a code-share partner, under the "Category Two" rating the International Civil Aviation Organization had assigned in 2015 due to a shortage of technical officers and certification problems in transporting hazardous goods.
Prior to late-2015, Thai Airways flew direct between Bangkok and New York and Los Angeles.
In 2017, Thailand said it aimed to get an air safety rating upgrade by 2018. Bangkok is a regional airline hub and Thailand had over 35 million foreign tourists last year.
— Reuters
