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Thailand’s regulator suspends Nok Air international operations
September 4th 2025
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has ordered Nok Air to stop operating its international network and suspend expansion due to safety concerns. Read More » CAAT has cited a series of safety incidents from 2023 to 2025, including engine shutdowns mid-air, hard landings and runway excursions as the reasons for its ruling.
CAAT also is concerned about a wave of resignations at the airline including pilots, instructors and safety inspectors. At present, Nok Air is not flying an international schedule because it is the low season in the country’s annual cycle, but the airline is operating to three China destinations and in the high season to two cities in India. Speaking to the Bangkok Post, Nok Air CEO, Wutthiphum Jurangkool, said the airline is preparing a response to the CAAT’s allegations. He said he is confident the ban will be lifted within a month and that it will not affect the re-start of Nok’s international operations planned for the end of October. When asked to comment on the CAAT’s concerns about the airline’s safety culture, Wutthiphum said the resignations were not due to safety issues, but were defections to another low-cost carrier that is aggressively expanding and operates the same 737 aircraft as Nok Air. “In our 21 years of operations, Nok Air has never had a fatal accident. Of course, we have experienced incidents such as the runway excursion in heavy rain at Chiang Rai airport in 2022, but such force majeure events can happen to any airline,” he said, He added the investigation might be related to the CAAT being audited by the International Civil Aviation Organization, prompting it to demonstrate strict enforcement of safety measures for airlines.
