Thai New Airport Has 29 "High Risk" Areas

Thai's soon-to-be open ultra-modern airport has many high risk areas, says ICAO. Via People's Daily Online:

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has questioned the readiness of Thailand's new Suvarnabhumi airport for its official opening slated on Sept 28, citing "high risk" areas in a report sent to Thai aviation authority, media in Bangkok said Friday.

The ICAO report, based on its information collected and observations made between June and early July, identifies 29 high- risk areas, or about one-third of the 93 items on its checklist, while 43 others are rated as medium-risk and the rest low-risk, according to Thai newspaper Bangkok Post, which quoted the ICAO report sent to Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT), an agency under the Transport Ministry overseeing international airports, including Suvarnabhumi.

Among the high-risk items identified are the "airfield visual aides" including taxiway, apron and airside road signs, lights and markings.

Failure to address them could lead to unsafe ground operations which "may contribute to an aircraft incident or accident", the report says.

But Thailand aviation authority said it will go ahead with the plan to open the airport as acheduled.