EU to begin audit of Nepal’s aviation sector from Thursday

File Photo. Aircraft of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) ready to take off from Simikot Airport. Photo Courtesy: RSS

Kathmandu: The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) is going to start a safety audit of Nepal from next Thursday.

According to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), it is expected that Nepal will pass the audit this time and that Nepal will be removed from the blacklist of the EU while the organization structure of the authority is being improved.

Since 2013, Nepal has been on the list of security interests of the European Union, so that airlines registered in Nepal are not allowed to fly in the skies of Europe.

Among the many concerns raised by the European Union and the International Civil Aviation Organization regarding Nepal’s air safety is that the regulatory body and the service provider body should not be the same.

To address this, the government has registered two bills in the parliament, but they have not been passed yet.

Because Nepal has scored above the world average in the test of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Nepal scored 70.1 percent in the study of areas including registration, organization, personal licensing, flight operation, air worthiness, accident investigation, air navigation service, aerodrome and ground support.