Thailand Declares Aviation, Airline Y2K Ready

Updated 12:00 PM ET October 8, 1999

By Sutin Wannabovorn

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand said Friday its aviation systems were Y2K-ready after testing a Thai Airways International flight and checking reliability of facilities.

Top transport officials said the national carrier was ready to counter any millennium bug after a successful 90-minute simulation of a regular flight on the eve of January 1, 2000.

Thai Airways spent about 300 million baht ($7.5 million) over the past two years and deployed some 400 specialized personnel to prepare for potential Y2K problems, its president Thamnoon Wanglee said.

ALL SYSTEMS GO

As the trial Boeing B747-400 aircraft with more than 200 passengers on board climbed to an altitude of 27,000 feet (8,230 meters) Friday, the pilot announced:

"We are now one minute rolling into the millennium time (2400 hours to 0001 hours). The navigation, communications and all flying systems are working normally."

Transport Minister Suthep Thaugsuban told reporters: "I am happy to declare the flight has passed the Y2K test. To reassure passengers that Thai Airways flights are free from the Y2K bug, the airline's president and I will be on a plane during the actual millennium rolling hour."

Thamnoon said Thailand's aviation communications, navigation systems, control tower and ground control equipment systems are now guaranteed to be free from the Y2K bug.

Y2K, or the millennium bug, is the syndrome that could cause older computers to crash when the date changes from 1999 to 2000 because they use only two digits to represent the year.

One concern for aviation authorities worldwide is a coding glitch that could scramble unprepared computers, and the operations they control starting on January 1, after 1999 changes to 2000.

BOOKINGS RISE 10 PERCENT

Thamnoon said despite global fears about potential Y2K problems, more adventurous passengers were booking Thai Airways flights during the millennium rolling hour.

"Bookings for flights during the rolling hours this year have risen by about 10 percent over bookings on flights last year during that same timing," he said.

The Airport Authority of Thailand said in case of unforeseen circumstances that could lead to problems during the turn of the century, Bangkok airport had facilities ready to handle more than 20,000 passengers and over one hundred parking bays for commercial planes.

Suthep said the International Civil Aviation Organization had chosen Thailand to be the regional cooperation center for monitoring Y2K problems during the millennium rolling hours because it was aware of the country's elaborate preparations.

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Must be Friday afternoon !!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), October 08, 1999

Answers

-- @ (@@@.@), October 08, 1999.