EU team to visit Nepal for on-site assessment

A team from the European Commission will be carrying out an on-site assessment in Nepal regarding air safety.

A statement issued jointly by Nona Deprez, the EU ambassador to Nepal, and Pradeep Adhikari, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, said the team will carry out the inspection “in the coming months”.

The statement added that the EU Air Safety Committee was briefed about the progress made by Nepal in terms of air safety in a meeting held on November 10-11 in Brussels.

“The situation in Nepal, as well as the situation of the air carriers certified in Nepal, was examined during this meeting. In particular, the adoption of new regulation on the functional separation of CAAN’s regulatory and service provider roles has been assessed,” reads the statement.

“Now, the implementation of this new regulation, as well as progress in aligning CAAN’s safety oversight capacity with the relevant international safety standards, must be verified through an EU on-site assessment visit to Nepal.”

The statement further said that the European Commission will continue to work closely with the CAAN to assist, where possible, in Nepal’s efforts to improve the aviation safety situation in the country, whilst at the same time ensuring that any potential safety risks to the travelling public are contained.

On December 5, 2013, the Commission had imposed a blanket ban on all airlines from Nepal from flying into the EU.