Kathmandu, September 21

With representatives of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency set to arrive at an air safety audit next month, government officials are optimistic about Nepal's removal from its aviation safety list.

"Since the International Civil Aviation Organisation has already given a good score to Nepali airlines, we believe that the EASA will remove Nepal from its air safety list, thereby allowing Nepali airlines to once again fly to European destinations," Jagannath Niroula, spokesperson for Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) told The Himalayan Times.

In the latest air safety audit by ICAO, Nepal had made significant progress with a score of 70.1 per cent, which was above the global average of 67.2 per cent.

Regarding the EASA's audit, Niroula said the team would arrive between October and November for a four-day air safety audit. The team will prepare the report in eight sectors, including legislation, institutionalisation, airworthiness, personal licensing, air operations, air navigation services, aerodrome and ground aids, and accident investigations.

All Nepali airlines have been banned from flying into the 27-nation bloc of the European Union owing to their weak safety standards since 5 December 2013 immediately after the ICAO raised significant safety concerns. While the ICAO removed Nepal's aviation from its blacklist in July 2017, the regional body has not followed suit, demanding revision of civil aviation policies, splitting CAAN into operational and regulating bodies.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Bill and the Air Service Authority of Nepal Bill were unanimously passed in the National Assembly on 2 August 2021.

However, the House of Representatives ended its five-year term on September 18 without passing the two aviation bills.

Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha, however, expressed belief that EASA will nevertheless remove Nepal from the air safety list. "Reformation of the CAAN is no longer a priority for EASA. So, the audit report will be positive and the ban on Nepali airlines will be lifted during my tenure."

Shrestha said that following the audit, Nepali airlines are planning to operate direct flights to the United States and European countries. "We're set to ink agreements with American and Swiss airlines for direct flights, while we've held series of dialogues with other European countries also."

A former director general of CAAN, seeking anonymity, said it's senseless to keep Nepal in the EU's air safety list after ICAO report showed Nepal had made significant improvements.

"The EU states that its assessment is made against international safety standards, and notably, the standards promulgated by the ICAO. But contrary to EU's claim, in Nepal's case those norms have been totally ignored."

"So now EU has no moral ground to keep Nepal in its safety listing," the former DG said.

"Some experts opined that ICAO audit report has still carried on CAAN's deficiency in organisational separation. The current result was due to the bill on the organisational separation of CAAN being in the final stage, which had already been passed by the Upper House. Moreover, some experts believe that organisational separation is not essential.

Functional separation within the organisation is more than enough. However, that has to be backed within the legislative framework."

Meanwhile, Nepali airline operators are optimistic about better days ahead if the ban is lifted.

According to Archana Khadka, spokesperson for Nepal Airlines Corporation, the tourism industry will get a major boost as a significant number of European tourists visit Nepal even now.

A total of 326,667 foreigners had visited Nepal till August 2022, as per the Nepal Tourism Board. The country welcomed a total of 41,304 by air in August, with European tourists constituting 19.1 cent of total visitors.