The government has introduced two bills in parliament to split the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) into a regulatory body and a service provider. If the ongoing session of Parliament passes the two bills – which it must, without delay – the CAAN will be transformed into an autonomous statutory agency responsible for regulating Nepal's ever-expanding aviation industry. A newly envisioned entity, the Air Services Authority of Nepal (ASAN), will function as the aviation service provider. Nepal's first aviation regulatory mechanism was established in 1957, then called the Department of Civil Aviation under the Ministry of Work Culture and Transport. Statutory regulations regarding civil aviation were introduced under the Civil Aviation Act, 1959. Nepal obtained membership of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 1960. Even though the CAAN itself was established as an autonomous regulatory body in 1998, it has a long experience with its aviation industry history, both as a regulator and service provider.
Nepal opened its skies and aviation industry to the private sector in the early 1990s following the political change. Thirty years down the road, the private sector has emerged as the most influential player in Nepal's civil aviation, particularly the domestic sector. However, there are safety issues of grave concern surrounding Nepali airlines and the aviation sector at home and abroad. In December 2013, the European Commission banned all Nepali airlines from flying into the 28-nation bloc. The ban stands till date. The European Union has serious safety concerns, also shared by the International Civil Aviation Organization. In 2022, ICAO took a firm position in its Nepal audit report, stating that Nepal should create two separate bodies: one responsible for service provision and the other for regulation. This is what Nepal has also been contemplating for a long time. In early 2020, the government introduced a bill to split CAAN into two bodies. The National Assembly passed that bill the following year, but then the House of Representatives' term ended in mid-September of 2022. Successive governments have made half-hearted efforts in between to get the bill through both Houses of Parliament. There has been no result as yet.
The Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister tabled the two bills in the House of Representatives on Sunday. The two largest parties – defying established parliamentary norms – are in power, and they have a near two-thirds majority in Parliament. The government must take swift action to get the Lower House of Parliament to pass the bill without wasting another day. Of course, the Parliament should debate the bill in the House, and the ruling side should incorporate any valid constructive suggestions from the sovereign Parliamentarians. Next, it should focus on getting the long-standing EU ban on Nepali airlines lifted. The government, particularly the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, needs to bear in mind that while it is necessary to create two separate bodies, just having mechanisms in place is not enough. They must function, and function properly; function efficiently. In the months following the split, the ICAO and EU will be evaluating the performances of CAAN in particular before taking any concrete steps to lift the ban on Nepali airlines. Nepal's aviation safety record is not in its favor. Well over a hundred people have been killed in over six air disasters in the past three years alone. That definitely is a grim scenario. Our skies and aviation services must be safe.