Nepal will have to wait for two weeks to get an “early indication” whether it has successfully passed a safety audit by the world’s aviation regulatory body.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan), however, is confident that the findings of the weeklong audit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (Icao) will be “positive”this time round.

“The Icao Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) team was satisfied with their observations on Nepal’s efforts to comply with international safety standards,” said Rajan Pokhrel, deputy director general of Caan. The mission led by Icao operations expert Captain Eugene Voudri and airworthiness expert Edmund Bohland carried out an on-site audit from July 4-11. 

“The Icao mission wrapped up their visit on Monday. We will be notified about the audit result within two weeks,” said Pokhrel. “We’d made the best preparation could. So we are optimistic to get a clean chit from the global aviation watchdog.”

Passing the audit will pave the way for lifting of Icao’s “significant safety concern” (SSC) tag imposed on the Nepal aviation industry in 2013. Icao will, however, dispatch a draft report to Nepal after 90 days. Caan has to give its feedback on the report within 45 days. The Icao will make the report public 30 days after receiving a response from Caan.

Icao monitors Nepal’s aviation safety oversight capabilities through the ICVM. The mission is generally invited by a state when it is fully confident that it has fully complied with the international safety standards. 

Among eight critical elements of aviation safety—primary legislation, organization and safety oversight functions, personnel licensing, aircraft operations, airworthiness of aircraft, aerodromes, air navigation system, and accident and incident investigation, the Icao experts had audited legislation, organization, operations and airworthiness. 

In July 2013, an Icao mission visited Nepal to validate the corrective measures taken by the country to address the deficiencies pointed out by the global aviation watchdog in 2009. But having found detected several lapses during the on-site audit held from July 10-16, the UN supervisory body had given the significant safety concern (SSC) tag to Nepal’s aviation sector in its audit report in August 2013. 

The European Commission (EC) blacklisted all Nepali carriers in December 2013 for the worst record of air safety oversight. Subsequently, the EC 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 had raised the red flag on ‘operations’, among the eight critical elements of safety oversight, due to sharp rise in the number of air accidents and incidents between 2009 and 2012. The 2013 audit report had pointed out that Nepal’s score of 55.01 percent in effective implementation (EI) of critical elements of safety oversight system was way below the Asia and the Pacific average of 59.9 percent. The fallout of the SSC has prevented the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) from obtaining an operating authorisation in China, according to sources. It has also affected the private carrier Himalaya Airlines’ plan to expand its wings to Saudi Arabia.  

“Without the removal of SSC tag, NAC’s plan to connect London and Australia after the acquisition of Airbus A330 jets will not be materialised,” said Caan officials. International airlines and travellers hesitate to travel to a country whose air safety has been questioned by Icao.

Icao inspection

• A team from the global aviation watchdog carried out an on-site audit from July 4-11

• The audit result is due in two weeks

• Passing the audit will pave the way for lifting of Icao’s “significant safety concern” (SSC) tag imposed on the Nepal aviation industry in 2013