Department of Civil Aviation (Thailand)

The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA; Thai: กรมการบินพลเรือน) was a government department of Thailand from 2009 to 2015. Founded in 1933 as a bureau under the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Transport, it was elevated to department status under the new Ministry of Transport in 1963, and was originally called the Department of Commercial Aviation. It was renamed the Department of Air Transport in 2002, before becoming the Department of Civil Aviation in 2009. The department's responsibilities included prescribing, regulating, and auditing Thai civil aviation, as well as the management of Thailand's government-owned civil airports (not including the main international airports operated by the state enterprise Airports of Thailand PCL).[1]

In October 2015, as part of restructuring in response to the ICAO's downgrading of Thailand's aviation safety rating, the DCA was split into two separate entities, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT),[2] which will conduct aviation regulatory oversight, and the Department of Airports,[3] which will operate airports previously operated by the DCA.

  1. ^ "DCA's Functions and Responsibilities". Department of Civil Aviation Thailand. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 31 Mar 2015.
  2. ^ "Emergency Decree on Civil Aviation of Thailand, B.E. 2558 (2015)" (PDF). Office of the Council of State (in Thai). 2 October 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Ministerial Regulations on Structuring of Department of Airport, Ministry of Transport, B.E. 2558 (2015)" (PDF). Office of the Council of State (in Thai). 5 October 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.[permanent dead link]