The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) has said it plans to invite a revalidation mission of the International Civil Aviation Organization (Icao) in the first quarter of 2017 to audit the corrective measures completed by Nepal to address the significant safety concerns (SSC) relating to operations and other aspects.

Caan decided to invite the audit mission after getting the go-ahead from the Combined Action Team (CAT) of Icao’s Asia and Pacific office in Bangkok which has helped it in its evaluation and preparedness. A six-member CAT mission provided assistance to Caan from November 22-25. 

The mission is normally invited by a state when it is fully confident that it has fulfilled all the compliances with international safety standards.

“The CAT mission has said that we can invite Icao’s audit mission within three months,” said Rajan Pokhrel, director general of Caan. “We have decided to do so as per its recommendation. We have addressed almost all the deficiencies pointed out by the Icao audit, and we are confident that Nepal will be out of the safety list.”

Pokhrel said that the CAT mission in its preliminary report had urged Caan to implement an effective document control system, particularly with regard to the issuance of airline certification and flight safety.

Unsatisfied with Nepal’s progress, the UN aviation watchdog had attached the SSC tag to Nepal’s aviation sector in its audit report. The report was submitted in August 2013 after conducting an on-site audit from July 10-16, 2013.

Nepal has been red-flagged on ‘operations’ among the eight critical elements of safety oversight. It has performed poorly in effectively implementing air safety oversight systems, appearing way down among 46 Asian countries, according to the safety audit report of Icao.

The audit report shows that Nepal has received an effective implementation rating of 55.1 percent, much below the Asia and Pacific average of 59.9 percent.

Following the Icao audit report, the European Commission (EC) on December 5, 2013 put all Nepali carriers in its bad books for the worst record of air safety oversight.

The EC has asked European operators and travel agents to inform European travellers who will have a right to reimbursement if they have booked a seat on a Nepali carrier as part of a journey to Nepal and decide not to use it. Nepali carriers will not be removed from the EC blacklist until the SSC is removed.

Icao monitors Nepal’s aviation safety oversight capabilities through the Icao Coordinated Validation Missions (ICVM). International airlines and travellers hesitate to travel to a country whose air safety has been questioned by Icao.