Kathmandu, December 29

The new Nepal Civil Aviation Act is going to benefit air passengers as they will be eligible to receive compensation in case of delay in flights or cancellations from the airline company.

Likewise, if any passenger arrives at the airport within the scheduled time but the flight has already departed then concerned airline firm will have to compensate such passengers.

The bill of the new act is currently under approval phase at Cabinet. After implementation of the act airline operators will have to be transparent with information they provide to passengers related to conditions of air travel, facilities and airfare.

The new law has also mentioned that in case of flight delay or cancellation the concerned airline operator must inform its passengers beforehand so that the passengers won’t have to go through the hassle of going to the airport and returning home.

Aiming to strengthen the aviation sector of the country the government has prepared a bill of the new civil aviation act.

As the air traffic congestion at airports across the country is increasing each year which is bothering passengers with flight delays and cancellations the new law is expected to address such problems. However, the act will not be applicable for military aircraft.

While the facilities being provided to air passengers have increased after country implemented Montreal Convention no such provisions have been made yet for domestic passengers.

Hence, new law is being drafted to address issues of domestic passengers. Prior to this, in 2015 the Supreme Court had already directed the government to make a provision of providing compensation to domestic passengers in case of flight delay or cancellation.

Due to the heavy congestion at Tribhuvan International Airport flight delays and cancellations have become a common issue in the domestic sector.

Passengers have been blaming airline operators for not managing their flights while the airline operators are blaming the government for not managing traffic congestion at the airport.

The new act also includes a law to divide the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal into two separate bodies — regulatory and operational.