Kathmandu, May 27
Prem Bahadur Ale, Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, and Nona Deprez, EU
Ambassador to Nepal, met today at the Ministry. Minister Ale’s personal secretary, Manoj Adhikari, said that he and Ambassador Deprez discussed ways to remove Nepal from the EU’s Safety List (sanctions) because the country’s aviation industry is safe.
During the discussion, Minister Ale informed Ambassador Deprej that, according to preliminary results, Nepal’s implementation rate of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as a regulatory body in eight areas of flight safety is 70.1 percent, which is higher than the global average. “Nepali skies are safe, according to ICAO results,” he stated. “Nepal should immediately be removed from the EU sanctions list.” Nepal was placed on the EU’s aviation security blacklist eight years ago. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), on the other hand, has removed Nepal’s name from its blacklist, claiming that the country has achieved significant progress in the field of aviation safety. In Nepal’s airspace, the EU declared that pilots must be certified and trained in conformity with international norms.
During the meeting, E Pradip Kumar Adhikari, Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), also stated that the authority has organized pilot qualifications and training in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s requirements (ICAO). Three Nepali airlines now conduct international flights, including Nepal Airlines Corporation, Buddha Air, and Himalayan Airlines, although it is not feasible to fly to Europe until the country is removed from the EU blacklist.
