EC team starts on-site check of Nepali aviation
KATHMANDU, FEB 04 -
A team of experts from the European Commission (EC) started on-site inspections of Nepal’s civil aviation sector from Monday to reassess whether Nepal should be kept on the European Union (EU) Air-safety list for a longer term.
On December 5, 2013, the European Commission had banned all Nepal-based airlines from flying into the EU, terming them unsafe.
The six-member team has been split into three groups, of which two will inspect domestic airlines, while the other will scrutinise the overall aviation system of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), including documentation on addressing safety oversight, CAAN’s capability, manpower strength, personnel licensing, and airworthiness.
Six domestic airlines—Nepal Airlines, Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Tara Air, Shree Air and Sita Air—are on the team’s inspection list.
The visiting experts will check the safety management system, maintenance system, flight operation system and among other documentation of domestic carriers.
The team will submit a report on the inspection to the Aviation Safety Committee of the EC on February 14. The EC will “probably” give a final decision by April after assessing the report, according to CAAN sources. “The team will check the overall documents of CAAN to verify whether it complies with the checklist of the Annex provisions of the United Nation aviation watchdog.”
The team will hold a pre-briefing with Nepali aviation officials on Saturday to inform the latter on the inspections, the CAAN officials added. “If the team is satisfied with Nepal’s progress, it might recommend lifting the ban at its committee meeting.”
CAAN officials are hopeful the results would be positive as Nepal has made a substantial progress in addressing its air-safety deficiencies.
CAAN had been reiterating it was committed to bring down Nepal’s non-compliance rate with the ICAO below the global average after it was summoned by EC twice in a year apparently as a prelude to blacklist Nepali airlines from flying into the EU.
However, the CAAN plea did not work and had to suffer a ban.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
