EU decides to continue ban on Nepali airlines

KATHMANDU, Nov 26: The European Union (EU) has decided not to remove Nepal from the flight safety list as it has not achieved significant progress in air safety according to world standards.

According to the official journal of the European Union published on Thursday, EU has continued to blacklist Nepali avation sector. With the new list, the ban imposed on Nepal has been extended for another 6 months.

Showing serious interest in air safety, the EU has been keeping Nepal's aviation sector in the flight safety list for 10 years. The EU also conducted an audit last month. During this time, Nepal has continued the ban saying that no significant improvement or progress has been made.

The only authentic version of the security list is the version that is the latest applicable Commission Implementing Regulation Revision Regulation with regard to the list of air carriers involved in the previous decision. On September 14, 2022, the EU Commission also held a meeting with the representatives of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

Since 2013, the European Commission under the EU has put Nepal in the flight safety list, showing security concerns over Nepal's airspace. In 2013, it was removed from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) list of Serious Security Concern (SSC) in July 2017.

Showing security concerns, the EU banned Nepalese aircraft from flying in European skies. After the results of ICAO's flight safety audit, the government of Nepal has asked the EU to remove Nepali Airlines from the list.