Claim: Thailand extends ban on incoming passenger flights.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Department of Civil Aviation (Thailand)
text: face possible bans on new routes. Existing routes would continue as normal. Japan and South Korea have already responded to the possible downgrade by banning requests for future flight plans and banning all charter flights from Thailand-registered companies. A source within Thai Airways criticized the Department of Civil Aviation, "Their lack of attention to detail is costing us all..." On 2 April 2015 a Thai civil aviation delegation journeyed to Seoul to attempt to deflect Korean sanctions. They failed to convince the Koreans. Three Thai charter carriers will not be permitted to fly to Korea in April. About 10,000 passengers

title: Surayud Chulanont
text: opened Suvarnabhumi Airport alone was incapable of handling future traffic volume and that the airport was unsafe. The decision met with strong opposition from Airports of Thailand, the Civil Aviation Department, the Board of Airline Representatives in Thailand (BAR), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Thai Airways International labour union, and many domestic and international airlines, including Thai Airways and the Star Alliance. 60 airlines threatened to halt flights to Thailand if they were forced to move back to Don Muang airport. A two-week investigation led by Tortrakul Yomnak, a chief engineer for Airports of Thailand and prominent supporter

title: Thai Airways International Flight 261
text: Thai Airways International Flight 261 Thai Airways International Flight 261 (TG261/THA261) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport, Thailand to Surat Thani International Airport in Surat Thani, Thailand. The flight was operated by Thai Airways International, the flag carrier of Thailand. On 11 December 1998, the aircraft, an Airbus A310-204 registered in Thailand as HS-TIA, stalled and crashed in a rice paddy on its landing attempt at Surat Thani Airport. A total of 101 people were killed in the crash. Thailand's Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee (AAIC) opened an investigation into the accident. The investigation revealed

title: 2008 Thai political crisis
text: PAD forces also forced their way into the control tower, demanding the flight plan for Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's return from the APEC summit in Peru. Somchai flew into Bangkok Don Muang airport on the evening of 25 November 2008 before flying on to Chiang Mai. After hours of turmoil, the Airports of Thailand, AOT, eventually decided that all Suvarnabhumi flights were suspended, leaving thousands of travelers stranded in the airport., this action led to the official closure of the airport later. The government called on the Royal Thai Army to restore order at the airport. The Army did not

title: Thai Airways
text: the country either lacks laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards, or its civil aviation authority—a body equivalent to the FAA for aviation safety matters—is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, or inspection procedures. With a Category 2 rating, Thailand's air carriers can continue existing routes to the United States but they won't be allowed to establish new routes to the United States." The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) declined to blacklist any Thai carriers following a review of certain carriers in November 2015. THAI later

title: Orient Thai Airlines
text: Mueang District, Bangkok. On 22 July 2008, shortly after the crash of One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269 in Phuket which killed 89 people, and after the Internet publication of illegally excessive work hours and check ride fraud, Orient Thai and One-Two-GO were ordered to suspend service for 56 days. On 22 September 2010, Orient Thai took delivery of its first Boeing 747-400 aircraft, previously registered as N548MD, and arrived at the Orient Thai base as HS-STC. In November 2015, Orient Thai Airways signed a contract with the Amadeus IT Group to be listed in Global Distribution Systems for the first time.

title: Phuket Air
text: on 12 September 2005. In the 2005-2006 Hajj season, Phuket Airlines provided Boeing 747-200 and 747-300 aircraft on a short term wet lease to Saudi Arabian Airlines. The carrier commissioned Air France Industries, the aircraft maintenance-service arm of the French flag carrier, to hep lift Phuket Airlines' safety standards which was successful in lifting the EU ban. In late 2006-07, the airline flew charters for the Saudi Arabia Ministry of the Interior flying out deportees. On 6 March 2007, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, removed Phuket Air from its list of blacklisted airlines after Phuket Air complied with

title: Suvarnabhumi Airport
text: solution," said Tony Tyler, IATA's director general and CEO. In January 2007, Thai Airways announced a plan to move some of its domestic operations back to Don Mueang International Airport due to overcrowding. Three days later, the Ministry of Transport recommended temporarily reopening Don Mueang while repair work on the runways at Suvarnabhumi proceeded. At that time, Thai Airways said it would shift most of its domestic flights back to Don Mueang while keeping flights with high international passenger connections such as Chiang Mai and Phuket at Suvarnabhumi. On 28 March 2009, Thai Airways discontinued all domestic flights from Don

title: Visa policy of Thailand
text: Airlines, Indigo, Intira Airlines, Jeju Air, Jet Asia Airways, Jetstar Asia Airways, Jetstar Pacific, Jin Air, Juneyao Airlines, Lao Central Airlines, Tigerair Mandala, Norwegian Air, Orient Thai Airlines, Regent Airways, Shandong Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, South East Asian Airlines, SpiceJet, Spring Airlines, T'way Airlines, Thai Smile, Tigerair or VietJet Air. Those transiting through Don Mueang International Airport for less than 12 hours do not require a visa only when travelling on Thai AirAsia or Thai AirAsia X. Citizens of Pakistan are required to obtain a visa when transiting through Thailand at all times. Holders of passports issued by the following countries

title: Visa policy of Thailand
text: visa-on-arrival fee waived for 60 days, in an effort to bolster tourism numbers. There are 48 Immigration checkpoints providing visa on arrival, including: International Airport Land and harbor checkpoint From 21 November 2018 Thailand started issuing tourist visas valid for 15 days in a simplified procedure to visitors from the countries whose citizens are eligible for visa on arrival. Electronic visa application will also become available in February 2019. Passengers transiting through Suvarnabhumi Airport for less than 12 hours do not require a visa, unless they are travelling on Angkor Air, Beijing Capital Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Eastar Jet, Golden Myanmar

title: Politics of Thailand
text: regional airports were closed for a short period and 35 trains between Bangkok and the provinces were canceled. Protesters raided the Phuket International Airport tarmac on the resort island of Phuket Province resulting to 118 flights canceled or diverted, affecting 15,000 passengers. Protesters also blocked the entrances of the airports in Krabi and Hat Yai (which were later re-opened). Police issued arrest warrants for Sondhi Limthongkul and eight other PAD leaders on charges of insurrection, conspiracy, unlawful assembly and refusing orders to disperse. Meanwhile, General Anupong Paochinda stated: "The army will not stage a coup. The political crisis should be

title: U-Tapao International Airport
text: arranged special flights to and from U-Tapao to ferry international passengers stranded by the closure of the Suvarnabhumi Airport. Several governments including Italy, Macau and Spain also sent chartered flights to evacuate residents. As many as 100,000 passengers were stranded in Thailand until early December. Although its runway can accommodate large aircraft, U-Tapao's terminals are not designed to handle more than a few flights a day. Travellers were subject to many hardships, and as the security was not up-to-date, some US-bound flights were diverted to Japan and their passengers required to go through a supplementary security check before continuing. As

title: Shah Amanat International Airport
text: and the tarmac were expanded and improved. After the upgrade, aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400 or the Airbus A340 can land easily. In June 2005, CAAB announced that the management of the airport would be awarded to Thai Airways, the national carrier of Thailand, for 10 years. Thai Airways would be responsible of catering, passenger check-in, ground handling, cargo handling, and other technical services. Emirates SkyCargo launched cargo services in 2013, making it the first scheduled cargo airline in the airport. The airport's sole passenger terminal is divided into two parts: International and Domestic with a boarding bridge in

title: Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport
text: Airlines certified back already. Their service was suspended to Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport. Today, at Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport Nok Air and Thai AirAsia have direct routes from Bangkok, total number of flights averages about 7 flights per day. As Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport has many passenger increase. Naknon Si Thammarat Provincial Governor and Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport Director trying Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport to Nakhon Si Thammarat International Airport for promote tourism, economy increase, passenger increase from Nakhon Si Thammarat province and nearest province. Introduce, they are extended runway from 2,100 metres to 2,600 metres. July 12, 2013, Nakhon

title: Iran–Thailand relations
text: a letter sent to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha saying “the Islamic Republic of Iran always regards Kingdom of Thailand as an age-old friend and partner and hopes to see the expansion of bilateral relations in all fields". Thai Airways International announced in June 2016 that the airline would establish a new route between Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport. This comes after AirAsia X introduced that same route. The first inauguration flight was launched on 1 October 2016. On 8 October 2016, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani arrived in Bangkok for the 2nd Asia Cooperation Dialogue summit. President

title: Outbound Travel Alert System
text: were affected by the incident and were stranded in Bangkok. Two days later, representatives from the Hong Kong tourism industry claimed that the Hong Kong Government had been too passive about the incident, and that the Security Bureau had not issued any travel warnings. The Chinese Government, Macau Government and other countries began to send charters to repatriate their residents from Thailand four days after the incident. However, the Secretary of the Security Bureau announced that Hong Kong would have special arrangements with Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Express for their residents to return home, after a Hong Kong couple

title: 2012 Bangkok bombings
text: Barak, who was scheduled to visit the country. On August 22, 2013, Saeid Moradi was sentenced to life imprisonment while Mohammad Hazaei was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and deportation. Chief of Royal Thai Police Priewpan Damapong instructed the Transportation Ministry to place the country's six international airports on high alert. The directive was said to follow reports provided by Israeli intelligence that further attacks on Thai soil were possible. Thai police carried out building-to-building searches around a Jewish synagogue on Sukhumvit Road. The synagogue was already under 24-hour police protection following the arrest in January of a Swedish-Lebanese alleged

title: Thai Airways
text: to deliver more tourists to 55 "second-tier" provinces. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will assist the team by creating a new campaign, "More Local", to drive tourism to less visited corners of the nation. AOT, which operates Thailand's six international airports, will invest 220 billion baht in infrastructure to increase airport capacity from 2018's 80 million passengers to 185 million in ten years. KTB's contribution to the effort consists of creating new payment solutions for tourists and ramping up travel promotions. Political interference, corruption and abuse of authority have been persistent issues in THAI's management. Speaking at the World

title: Department of Civil Aviation (Thailand)
text: will be affected. Japan had earlier granted Thailand a reprieve on sanctions, in effect allowing Thai charter carriers to continue to fly to Japan over the heavy 11 April–31 May travel season. The ICAO assesses, among other things, personnel licensing and training, airworthiness assessment and certification, accident investigation, and airline operations oversight. The DCA is responsible for granting operating licenses to airlines operating in Thailand. Among the ICAO's concerns is that the DCA has issued operating licences to 22 airlines in just nine months. To date (March 2015), the DCA has issued operating licences to 70 scheduled and charter airlines.

title: Suvarnabhumi Airport
text: Airways operating three Singapore to Bangkok flights. Bangkok Airways moved to the airport on 21 September. AirAsia and Thai AirAsia followed on 25 September and on 26 September Nok Air moved to Suvarnabhumi Airport. During this initial phase, as well as in the previous tests, the airport used the temporary IATA code NBK. Suvarnabhumi officially opened at 03:00 on 28 September 2006, taking over all flights from Don Mueang. The first flight to arrive was a Lufthansa Cargo flight LH8442 from Mumbai at 03:05. The first commercial arrival was Japan Airlines at 03:30. The first passenger arrival was Aerosvit flight