In a recent move, the government has reportedly decided to engage technical experts from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to offer R&D support to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) in its upgradation activities.

According to Deputy Director General of CAAN Rajan Pokhrel, the CAAN board has already approved the proposal and forwarded the same to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for final nod from the Ministry of Finance.

The project under proposal comes in the background of ICAO’s assistance to Nepal under its #AirSafetyFund that strives for civil aviation safety globally, and Nepal holds 25 percent contribution in the Rs. 10 million Safety Fund.

CAAN Split & Nepal Aviation’s Progress
The latest decision to engage ICAO experts comes in the background of CAAN’s split into two different wings as service provider and regulator.

The Civil Aviation Ministry has already prepared the draft Integrated Civil Aviation Bill that envisages the split process and is expecting the Cabinet’s approval for the same by October 2018.

According to Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, Joint Secretary at Tourism Ministry, the draft still requires some changes related to legal aspects as recommended by the Law Ministry. “We are preparing to send the draft to the Law Ministry again,” adds Buddhi Sagar.

Following approval, the government will hold consultations on issues pertaining to management of personnel and division of liabilities & organizational properties, to be handled by #ICAOExperts.

The proposal to split CAAN has its roots at a technical committee meeting of the European Commission held in Brussels, Belgium in January 2017, where CAAN officials and the Tourism Ministry updated the Commission about Nepal’s progress in tackling air safety issues.

Approval of the proposed bill will replace the existing Civil Aviation Act 1959 and Nepal Civil Aviation Authority Act 1996.

As per the draft bill, CAAN will continue its role as a regulator controlling technical operations and the new airport and Air Navigation Services division will function as a service provider in handling security & infrastructure development, tax collection and traffic control at the airports.

The decision comes in line with the ICAO’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme that recommends split of CAAN for effective functioning of #NepalAviationSector.

Aviation Safety Report 2018
In its Aviation Safety Report 2018, CAAN reported a significant progress in the country’s aviation sector with regard to enhancement of #airsafety capability and air operation & maintenance, among other factors.

The report recorded a decline in number of air safety issues to 159 by 2017 from 192 in 2016.

“We have strictly abided by the #InternationalCivilAviation Organization (ICAO)’s #GlobalAviationSafety plan,” said Birendra Shrestha, CAAN Spokesperson citing the report.

He further added that the authority will continue its efforts till the country’s aviation sector is deemed ‘safe’.

The report also noted that #NepalAviation succeeded in resolving significant safety concern raised by ICAO after its validation mission in 2013.

“Similarly, effective implementation of #ICAOSafetyStandards and guidance have also been raised above the global average,” the report said, indicating a rise in CAAN’s performance growth over the years from 43 per cent in 2009 to 55 per cent in 2013 and 66.08 percent in 2017.

According to Shrestha, #CAAN has also unveiled a four-year aviation safety plan to continue its aviation safety performance to develop harmonized safety strategy and implementation to address fatalities and related risks.

Hope, the new changes in CAAN’s organizational structure through #ICAO assistance will add to the future progress of Nepal’s aviation sector.

The post CAAN’s New Turn for Nepal Aviation, ICAO Steps In! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

A recent update informed that the Gautama Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa is nearing its completion to become operational by early 2019.

The much-delayed airport got 50 percent of its physical infrastructure development completed by June 2018 and is awaiting the technical infrastructure part.

The finished 50 percent work covered 70 percent of the civil works and the remaining 30 percent of task involves setting up of Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Communications, Navigation & Surveillance (CNS) systems.

Encouraged at June’s progress report, the #AsianDevelopmentBank (ADB) has decided to step into the project again.

ADB was supporting the project as a key financier, but moved out in December 2017 citing slow execution from the Nepal Government’s side in meeting the set deadlines.

“The project has achieved better-than-expected result in June. ADB has been considering continuing support for the project and we are in regular discussion with them,” says Sanjiv Gautam, Director General, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

According to Gautam, the project is currently awaiting final base laying works including that of the runway that are expected to be completed by end of July 2018.

ADB has so far provided USD 58.50 million in loans & grants followed by OPEC Fund for International Development’s (OFID) USD 15 million loan and CAAN will bear the remaining expenditure as part of counterpart funding.

The project was initially set for a December 2018 deadline after months of delay and has been finally been set to a revised operational deadline of June 2018.

The airport project is aimed at promoting Bhairahawa’s potential as a growing industry hub of Nepal and also to drive more international tourists to Lumbini, Birthplace of Lord Buddha, which is 22 km away from the Gautam Buddha International Airport at Bhairahawa.

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The Nepali Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari informed this to the Parliament on June 22, 2018.

Speaking at a Parliament session, Adhikari informed that the Government of Nepal has already sent a letter to EU requesting the removal of Nepal’s name from the Significant Safety Concern (SSC) list.

Stating that Nepali aviation sector is now complying with the EU safety & security standards, the Ministry expressed hope that Nepal would be removed from the list within the next three months.

“The government believes that by September, EASA will remove Nepal from the SSC list,” reads an official statement by Adhikari, informing that the EU officials will visit Nepal in September to discuss aviation safety matters with the Nepali officials.

Adhikari quesitoned EU as to why the ban was not lifted even after the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) has taken out the Nepali aviation sector from the SSC list in July 21, 2017.

Meanwhile, Nepali aviation officials feel that the continous ban has hurt Nepal’s plans to fly wide-body aircraft to Europe.

The Background
The latest move by Nepal follows the series of similar requests that the country has been making to the EU Commission since 2003 for the removal of its name under the blacklisted countries that reported air safety concerns.

On December 05, 2013, EU responded banned (delete either ‘responded’ or ‘banned’) all the Nepali airlines flying across the region owing to their weak air safety and security compliance with the EU standards.

There was hardly any positive nod from EU despite Nepal’s continous efforts by means of reported imporvements in its aviation standards.

Lastly in December 2017, EU reponded saying that Nepal’s airlines were subjected to operational ban owing to the country’s name in the blacklist and for not witnessing any notable imporvement in the country’s aviation standards even after the ban.

In its updated air safety list released on December 01, 2017, the EU agency placed Nepal among the 16 countries that were prohibited from flying in the EU bloc. “All air carriers certified by the authorities with responsibility for regulatory oversight of Nepal have been banned from operating within EU,” read a statement by the European Agency.

While the updated list contained a total of 178 airlines(add space)from different countries, 18 air carriers were from Nepal alone, which is really alarming!

Overall, Nepali aviation officials feel that the EU’s lift of ban will help Nepali airline operators to fly their planes to European destinations and will also add to Nepal’s target to reach two million annual tourist arrival target staring from 2020.

The post Nepal Aviation: EU Ban on Nepali Airlines To be lifted Soon, says Minister appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

Nepal is getting closer to finalizing an agreement with Australia in the Civil Aviation sector.

In a recent update, officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Nepal informed that the Australian Government responded positively to Nepal’s draft Air Service Agreement (ASA) and has also sent its feedback on the same.

“We are preparing to send our views to Australia. Once both sides agree on a common agenda, the draft will be tabled at the Cabinet for its approval to sign ASA. Negotiations will begin after the Cabinet’s clearance,” informed Pramod Nepal, Under-Secretary, MoCA.

According to Nepali officials, the new deal would be based on ‘the principal place of business’ rather than the traditional ‘principle of airline substantial ownership’. In many countries, flight operation permit is granted to an airline company only if it has majority of its shareholders from the country it is based in.

Third country code-share agreement, fifth freedom traffic rights, multiple designations, free pricing and unrestricted cargo are among proposals made by Nepal in its air proposal to Australia.

The Nepali Ministry had requested the Government of Australia (GoA) to allow 14 weekly flights with any type of aircraft, to which, GoA said it will permit only seven weekly flights to its key destinations such as Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. “It has proposed providing unlimited flights for other destinations,” said the Nepali officials.

The Airbus’ Nepal Air Traffic Analysis report 2015 terms Australia as an emerging market for Nepal with the preferred route through Malaysia. The year 2014 saw 41,000 one-way travellers between Australia and Nepal.

North America, Japan and the UK are other emerging markets for Nepal besides Australia for the next 20 years.

According to the Under-Secretary Nepal, the number of Nepali students flying to Australia and Australian tourists coming to Nepal has been rising.

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