KATHMANDU, Sept 18: The country’s aviation sector is currently facing significant challenges, marked by several air accidents in the Nepali sky. Nepal’s airspace has not been removed from the European Union (EU) blacklist, stating that it is unsafe.

Considering the recent accidents in Nepal, the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines, and private airlines are experiencing a decline in reliability and quality. Meanwhile, Badri Pandey, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA ), has repeatedly expressed his commitment to improve the aviation sector of the country.

During the two months of his tenure, Minister Pandey has focused on how to improve aviation rather than on culture and tourism. Although the three sectors of culture, tourism, and aviation are all interconnected, he has prioritized efforts to enhance the aviation sector.

Meanwhile, Minister Pandey said that he will proceed with policy intervention for the improvement of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). He said that it is essential to take necessary steps through policy intervention to reform the national flag carrier, the NAC.

Similarly, he said that the proposal to separate service providers and regulatory bodies in the aviation sector has reached the Cabinet. He stated at a press conference that a bill has already been presented to the Cabinet that proposes to separate the regulatory and service-providing roles of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

Last December, the European Union (EU) continued to blacklist all airlines operating under the CAAN while publishing a new list of airlines under its flight safety concern.

Nepali airline companies have been blacklisted since 2013. Although most concerns raised by the ICAO have been addressed, Nepal was removed from the status of “serious security concern” in July 2017, but still remains in the “security concern” status.

As a result, Minister Pandey is taking initiatives to lift the country’s aviation sector from the blacklist by separating the role of regulator and service provider with CAAN. Minister Pandey has been in favor of separating the authority’s regulatory and service provider roles as recommended by the ICAO.

Similarly, he has also proposed the formation of a high-level investigation committee to investigate the air accidents that have taken place so far. He said that the high-level investigation committee will be formed under the leadership of a former High Court judge.

Minister Pandey said that the study reports prepared by the previous task forces will be taken as reference and the report to be submitted by the proposed investigation committee will be implemented.

According to the statistics of the CAAN, there have been 108 air accidents in Nepal so far, resulting in the deaths of 959 people. Among these incidents, 10 involved foreign-registered planes, leading to the deaths of 379 people.

While addressing the second regional ministerial conference of ICAO held in New Delhi, India, Minister Pandey raised the issues of the effective operation of Pokhara Regional International Airport and Gautam Buddha International Airport.

He expressed the expectation for regional cooperation with neighboring countries to ensure the efficient functioning of these international airports, especially as they have already been certified.

At the same time, he informed the representatives of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) of ICAO about the progress in drafting legislation to separate service providers and regulatory bodies in the civil aviation sector. In addition, Minister Pandey provided updates on improvements made during ICAO's aviation safety audit.

In a meeting with Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, Minister for Civil Aviation of India, Minister Pandey discussed the issue of establishing more air access routes between Nepal and India and establishing direct air links between different cities of the two countries. He also urged ICAO and other member countries to establish research and training centers in the aviation sector in Nepal. He said that Nepal is ready to facilitate that.

Furthermore, MoCTCA reported that Minister Pandey is engaged in discussions with high-ranking officials from various countries about enhancing international air services in Nepal. He mentioned his efforts to revise policies related to tourism, culture, and aviation, and said that he aims to finalize these policies before the start of the winter session of parliament.

 
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