The Hong Kong director and co-owner of City Airways has hit back at claims that the airline’s aircraft are unsafe after Thai authorities suspended its operations on Saturday.
Terence Mak Hung, who was speaking to the South China Morning Post by phone from Bangkok, said he expected operations to resume next week, after passengers were earlier left stranded.
Confusion arose after one of the airline’s directors went on holiday to Japan over the weekend, just at the time when authorities requested documentation as part of routine checks, according to Hung.
“Because of this, we were able to submit only part – not all – of the documentation that Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation requested,” he said yesterday. “We have today submitted full documentation to the Thai [authorities] and expect to be flying again by next week. We are awaiting their response.”
All 300 passengers who had been stranded in Phuket were flown back to Hong Kong on Wednesday with three different carriers, Hung said.
City Airways said it covered the costs of all accommodation and rescheduled flights.
On Wednesday, Thai officials voiced concerns that City Airways was not following proper safety procedures for the maintenance of its aircraft.
“We were concerned about passenger safety following a report that revealed that City Airways has not been following proper procedures during maintenance on their planes,” Santi Pawai, the director of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ Phuket office, had told the Phuket Gazette on Wednesday.
Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department confirmed yesterday that the airline “has provided information to [us] concerning the matter”.
The department added that the Thai authorities had acted “in line with the international practice as part of the global aviation safety assurance regime”.
Peter Lok Kung-nam, who headed the Civil Aviation Department from 1990 to 1996, said it was impossible to tell when airlines were taking cost-cutting measures that may affect its passengers’ safety.
“With bilateral air services like this, each part – Hong Kong and Thailand – has to accept the integrity of the other,” Lok said.
Since the first City Airways flight from Phuket to Hong Kong was cancelled on Saturday, other flights heading back to Hong Kong have also been cancelled, with no alternative flight arrangements made for the passengers.
City Airways is a small airline owned by a group of Thai, mainland Chinese and Hong Kong investors. It ran its first flights, between Hong Kong and Bangkok, in October 2012 on a 170-seat Boeing 737-400 aircraft. The airline now has five such planes linking six cities.
人民网北京8月18日电 据国家旅游局监督管理司消息，8月9日，泰国都市航空公司（City Airways）由普吉飞香港的E8256航班因机况原因被泰国航空管理当局禁止起飞，造成9日、10日、11日准备赴香港的近300名中国游客滞留普吉岛。经中国驻泰国领事人员协调，泰国都市航空公司向滞留游客提供了饮水、餐食及住宿。到12日，已有部分游客自行购票回国。13日，普吉府旅游体育局协调安排滞留游客226人分两批赴曼谷，目前两批游客已在曼谷入住，将安排分批回国，费用由都市航空公司承担。
经了解，泰国都市航空公司（City Airways）是一家小型航空公司，主要经营廉价航空业务，抗风险能力较弱。
国家旅游局旅游质量监督管理所特提出如下警示：
第一，游客滞留境外，组团社应积极协助解决。组团社组织和安排旅游活动，应当按照包价旅游合同的约定履行义务，遇特殊问题不可推卸责任，应积极协助处理。组团社委派的领队应具有相应的语言能力和旅游从业经历，积极做好沟通协调工作，尽力维护旅游者合法权益。
第二，《旅游法》规定，旅行社组织旅游活动应当向合格的供应商订购产品和服务。航空公司是旅游活动中的主要供应商，旅行社应充分考量其资质、经营状况及抗风险能力。如旅行社向不合格的供应商订购产品和服务，旅游行政管理部门将依照《旅游法》第九十七条对旅行社做出行政处罚。
第三，廉价航空公司又称低成本航空公司，为了控制营运成本，廉价航空规定有不提供免费行李托运，不提供免费食品，不承担航班延误责任等限制条款。旅行社组织团队旅游如选择廉价航空，应如实向旅游者说明有关限制条款，并在旅游合同中予以约定，同时制定相关的应急预案。旅游者如选择廉价航空，应充分了解有关限制条款，做好各方面的出行准备。