Corporate Social Responsibility
The Company’s Policy in Corporate Social Responsibility management
The Company has stipulated a policy in Corporate Social Responsibility management with an emphasis on staff performance towards responsibility of all stakeholders, so that the work is done in an efficient and sustainable manner under these following seven principles.
- Corporate Governance – Adhere to the principle of good corporate governance.
- Performance – Strive on developing the route networks in order to efficiently respond to the travel needs.
- Knowledge – Always develop skillset, knowledge, and expertise for employees including the conditions that contribute to a learning environment of The Company.
- Safety – Manage safety among all levels of stakeholders, while plan out on business continuity.
- Humanity – Consider humanitarian principles, while emphasizing on human rights as far as stakeholders are concerned.
- Social – Support social activities and instill the sense of social development and responsibility among staffs at all levels.
- Environment – Realize and follow the rule of law on environmental issues relevant to the business operation.
CSR Vision and Strategy
On the social front, Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited is determined to develop the well-being of the community surrounding the airports or within The Company’s route networks with an aim to drive forth a sustainable growth for both The Company and the community alike. This has been done by deploying a strategy of supplying and linking knowledge into the community to leverage the well-being of the peoples in five dimensions namely economy, society, education, health, and environment under the “BLUE HEART – A Love to Share” concept. This sharing concept embodies sincere commitment in cultivating social responsibility, and the environment conservation through several projects. This is an opportunity for The Company to provide for the community proper value, experience, inspiration and participation.
Enrichment of Knowledge and Skill to Employees
The Company perceives that human resource is the most important factor. Therefore, the development focus is on human resource management and development process, and all stakeholders. By enhancing this development, The Company continuously organizes training sessions on skill development both internally and externally for each different level of staffs including the management. The Company also strives on driving forth its business by focusing on specialized courses for staffs in any particular career path in order to provide skill enrichment, knowledge, and specialization to ensure that all staffs are well equipped with proper knowledge and are prompted to perform their duties efficiently.
Knowledge and Innovation Management
This is aimed to provide access to knowledge for everyone in The Company as they can access knowledge and continue to intensify their skills to become specialists, as well as performing their duties in a more efficient manner. This activity also makes a significant mechanism in building up a “Learning Organization” mindset which enhances staffs towards learning and continuously strengthen their potential which will subsequently result in the highest competitiveness for The Company.
Managing knowledge within The Company driven by the key mission is basically about creating culture that promotes exchange of knowledge as to pave way towards becoming a “Learning Organization,” integrating Knowledge Management into employees’ work, and developing technology that contributes to knowledge management and an access to it. In 2019, The Company initiated several knowledge exchange culture and human resource development activities as follows.
- Knowledge Sharing Activity
This activity was staged with an aim to promote knowledge exchanging among team members of the organization by each department delivering at least a message pertaining significant knowledge once a year. This was done among 28 departments through seven Knowledge Management (KM) Event and written articles from all departments. - PG Innovation Award Project (Season 2)
This activity enables employees at all levels to have an opportunity to share their creative ideas through innovations under the following five categories.- Service Innovation
- Process Innovation
- Product Performance Innovation
- Profits / New Business Model Innovation
- Green Innovation
The Knowledge Management on The Intranet (SharePoint)
The Company has an internal Internet system known as PG Online. This platform is used for internal communication with relevant data for employees. For the Knowledge Management activity, The Company has integrated the system to support employees’ work, general knowledge from both the internal and external sources. They are kept in various forms such as articles, VDO clips, etc.; and get updated from time to time.
Business Continuity Management
The Company is determined to succeed in Business Continuity management (BCM) which comprises two main businesses namely the airline business and the airport business. This management is aimed to build confidence among all stakeholders that The Company is capable of coping with any disruptive situation. Furthermore, the business can still be run in a continuous manner, while also making the organization resilient in an efficient way.
The Company’s Business Continuity Management Policy focuses on the preparedness in response to any unexpected crises which may disrupt the business operation of The Company. It’s aimed to bring back the key activities within the timeframe while also minimizing impacts it may cause on employees, brand image, reputation, and assets. This policy is also in line with the international standard in the Business Continuity Management (ISO 22301).
In 2019, The Company made plans such as the revision of Organization’s Business Continuity Management Policy, Business Impact Analysis, Business Continuity Plan, Business Continuity Plans Test. All these plans have been carried out consistently and covering areas of operation in both airline and airport businesses.
Emergency Response Plan
To ensure that The Company is prepared to respond to any emergency that may occur and to comply with the regulation of IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and The Company’s Crisis & Emergency Response Manual (CERM) certified by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand which states that personnel in charge of emergency response must undergo a proper training on their roles assigned in the emergency plan at least once a year; the Department of Emergency Response, therefore, held a training and emergency response rehearsal aiming particularly at accident of an aircraft to both permanent and contractual employees at all stations under which The Company operates. This includes high-level executives, management, and officer-level staffs at the head office, as for all employees to understand and realize the importance of preparedness towards any incidents with an emphasis on how to take care of the passengers, staffs, relatives, and others who’re affected in order to minimize damage both directly and indirectly. Also, The Company must be able to bring back the situation to business as usual within an appropriate timeframe in compliance with the law.
Occupational Safety for Employees
The Company emphasizes on occupational safety for all staffs and in between the work process to ensure that employees, passengers, business partners, contractors, and visitors are safe. This is done on a basis of law, safety standard recognized domestically and internationally, and The Company’s regulation and policy to prevent risk on safety, health, and working environment.
The Company promotes activities in safety, health, and working environment systematically in compliance with The Company’s standard and the law. The Safety Day activity has been held consistently in different areas. In 2019, Trat Airport was awarded the Outstanding Enterprise Model in Occupational Safety, Health, and Environment (Provincial tier); and Phuket Station received a commemorative certificate from the Zero Accident Campaign initiation.
Moreover, The Company encourages to submit reports on Occupational Safety, Health, and Environment consistently through the Integrated Quality and Safety Management System (IQ SMS OSH) in order to make use of such information to plan on the occupational safety management for employees.
Social Work
Under the “BLUE HEART – A Love to Share” concept, The Company by the Corporate Social Responsibility Division is engaged in two main social work projects namely Community of Love Project, and Love Earth Save Earth Project with details shown in the following chart.
However, the corporate strategy in Corporate Social Responsibility emphasizes on taking care of the communities surrounding the three airports namely; Samui Airport, Sukhothai Airport, and Trat Airport. In 2019, the Corporate Social Responsibility Division initiated more than 12 projects to develop the betterment of the community’s living condition at all the three airports with supports from local staffs who consistently visit the communities and interact with the people to build good relationship between The Company and the communities. This activity helps The Company and the communities maintain a good understanding between each other, reducing conflicts, and bringing more collaborations.
The Company’s Projects for Community Development are as follows.
- School building project at Wat Boontarikaram School in Samui, Surat Thani Province
This school is situated adjacent to Samui Airport. This project is initiated in the light of providing ample space for standard classrooms and expanding capacity to accommodate school pupils. - Construction Subsidy for the office of the Public Health Volunteer of Samui
This project, built in the area of the Public Health Office of Samui, is aimed to be a space where the volunteers can meet to learn, sharing skills, and planning on their public health missions. - Ruam Jai Pat Project
is a community development project consisting of three villages (8 communities) around the vicinity of Samui Airport.
- The Elderly People’s Skill Development Project in corporation with the Government Saving Bank
The Company signifies the fulfilment of the elderly people’s skills for them to live up a healthy life, both physically and mentally. This belief is in line with the policy of the Government Saving Bank under the concept of “Save money, save your health.” Under this project in 2019, there were mobile dental clinic activities (with a support from iServe Thailand) in Samui, Sukhothai and Trat; where eye examination service, eyeglasses assembly service, health check-up and fun activities were provided.
- The Mangrove Planting Activity with Bangkok Airways in Trat
The Company understands the importance of the mangrove. Apart from expanding the green space, the mangrove forest is also an important source of carbon dioxide, home to immature marine animals. Moreover, it also helps reduce erosion from impact of the wave and replenish soil along the coastline. The Company has carried out this project since 2017 until now. - Coconut Trees Planting in Samui
Samui is known as one of Thailand’s most important coconut growing areas. The Company realizes how important to conserve this agriculture expertise of this island; therefore, the Coconut Trees Planting for Samui Year 1 – 5 has already been campaigning among the public and the farmers to plant more coconut trees which has now become a symbol of the island’s tourism. - Community Career Promotion Projects
The Company initiated several projects to help create careers within the community for examples, baking coconut milk toffee at Bang Rak community in Samui in collaboration with the Department of Community Development, the Ministry of Interior; and the Banana Leaf Village at Klongkrajong, Sawankaloke District, in Sukhothai province.
- The Waste Separation from its origin to the other end with sustainability, in collaboration with Central Family Mart Co., Ltd.
The Company in collaboration with Central Family Mart Co., Ltd. is engaged in raising awareness in waste separation from its origin and waste reduction to students at Ban Bang Rak School in Samui, Surat Thani province; through a workshop titled “Waste Separation from its origin to the other end with sustainability.” Albeit small, this activity is believed to further take shape as the students come together to take part in solving problems concerning the environment in Samui. - English Club with Bangkok Airways
Sukhothai province is one of the key target areas for The Company’s plan on executing corporate social responsibility initiative in a dimension of education. Beginning in 2019, The Company started off with Wall Street English Thailand to create English activities and enhance English learning to students in rural areas. - Waste Management Project (Separate waste with benefits)
Apart from consistently following the policy of waste reduction and waste management from the previous year; in 2019, The Company in collaboration with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and 12 other corporations in the capital market along with Thailand Responsible Business Network (TRBN) participated in the Market Governance Promotion Initiative in Celebration of the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King’s Coronation to follow the royal initiative on the self-sufficient economy by running business with responsibility and considering the benefits it may have on society and environment by declaring a campaign to use only eco-friendly material and carry out efficient waste management within The Company.
The Environment
The Company operates airport business and commercial aviation business which are categorized under the air transport project. Thus, The Company’s required to prepare an Environment Impact Analysis report following the announcement of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, approved by the Environment Impact Analysis Specialist Committee on the infrastructure as well as all other aspects.
From the consensus of all three airport projects namely Samui Airport, Sukhothai Airport, and Trat Airport; these airports must strictly follow the measurements on prevention, impact minimization, and impact monitoring on the environment every six months. By following these measures, the impacts on the environment covers four categories namely physical environment resources, biological environment resources, value on benefits to human being, and value to quality of life. It’s important to monitor the quality of the environment in many aspects such as air quality, noise level, vibration, water quality on the soil surface, water quality under the soil, wildlife resources, biological marine resources, social and economic condition and public participation. By following these measures, the airports can perceive impacts they cause on the environment. Thus, they could rectify any shortcomings promptly.
The Company has a flight operation measure in place to reduce the impact it renders, particularly on the air pollution. This is done by maneuvering the aircraft in the airway by using a single engine. Besides reducing the air pollution from the engine, this method also helps with lesser fuel consumption. Furthermore, each flight is also operated with a consideration in minimizing the noise impact on the community. Therefore, this operation is done with the least noise release to the environment adjustable to each airport’s landscape. By reducing the fuel consumption on efficient flight operation, The Company could save more than 300 Million Baht per year.