Thai AirAsia X To Suspend Sapporo Flights

Thai AirAsia X will temporarily suspend services from Bangkok to Sapporo from August 1 due to a downgrade of Thailand's aviation safety rating.

Thai AirAsia X will continue to fly to Tokyo and Osaka in Japan and Seoul in South Korea, it said in a statement.

Thailand's civil aviation body is under scrutiny after the ICAO last week downgraded its safety rating for failing to properly oversee airlines under its jurisdiction.

The incident prompted Thai AirAsia X to postpone plans to launch new routes to Japan and the airline is looking for new destinations, chief executive Nadda Buranasiri said in the statement.

Japan and South Korea are among the top destinations for Thais.

The operations of Thai AirAsia X, along with other carriers such as NokScoot, have been affected since late March after China and South Korea banned Thailand-based airlines from flying charters and new routes because of safely concerns. The Thai authorities were given 90 days to address the concerns.

Thai AirAsia X had secured temporary permission from Japan to fly from Bangkok to Sapporo once a day with AirAsia X (Malaysia) helping to supplement flights, it said.

Passengers who have booked its flights from July 31 can switch to an earlier travel date, change destination or receive a full refund, the statement said.