Established in 1960, Thai Airways International is a national carrier of the Kingdom of Thailand. Ministry of Finance holds major shares in the company. Through its partnership with Bureau Veritas, and in compliance with its shareholder’s interests and requirements (e.g. the King of Thailand’s sufficiency economy theory) and the company’s mission and goals, it seeks to achieve and maintain the highest standards in quality and environmental management. The challenge is to balance these imperatives and successfully centralize, fully deploy and align its multiple management systems across the company and to select the best ways of adapting them to ensure ISO certification. Bureau Veritas is particularly qualified to assist in this long-term project that began in 1996.

Bureau Veritas’ audits and training assistance enabled THAI to obtain its first ISO certification, ISO 9002, awarded to the Catering Services Department by Bureau Veritas Certification on October 31, 1996. The THAI Bureau Veritas partnership has continued to include the ISO 9002 certification of the Restaurant and Catering Services Department, Technical Department,, IT Services Department and many other areas of the company too numerous to list here. Most recently, THAI’s Ground Customer Services Department was officially awarded ISO 14001 certification from Bureau Veritas for its outstanding work to protect the environment. Bureau Veritas guidance has enabled the company to leverage its practice of sufficiency economy theory to monitor the impact of its products, activities and services on the environment and to adapt its environmental policy accordingly.

The best practices implemented with Bureau Veritas assistance over the years have reduced audit times and cost by 10 to 15% as audits are combined. These practices have enabled THAI to attain its certification goals, and enjoy the benefits resulting from customer trust and satisfaction and market communication. ISO 14001 environmental certification, for example, has been part of THAI’s environmental policy since 2000. It has since received ISO 14001 certification for its Head Office, several regional offices, Technical Department and Operation Center and Ground Customer Services Department. Thanks to these practices the airline will continue to systematically reduce the impact on the environment of operations under its control.