July 17: Even though Nepal has achieved significant progress in air safety according to the international standards, the European Union (EU) has still not removed it from the flight safety blacklist.

The EU has banned Nepali aircraft in European skies since 2014 citing air safety concerns.

Experts believe that there is no reason for the EU to keep Nepal in the blacklist as Nepal has made significant improvements in aviation safety.

Budhisagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, said that there is no point in keeping Nepal in the flight safety blacklist as Nepal's air safety rate is of international standard.

“We do not see any basis for the EU to ban Nepali airlines. We have done our work to improve flight safety and will continue to do so. Therefore, there is no need for the EU to keep it in the blacklist,” he said.

Joint Secretary Lamichhane, who is also the head of the Ministry's Civil Aviation Division, expressed his belief that Nepal will soon be removed from the EU's flight safety list as Nepal's flight safety rate is above average in the world.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, efforts are being made with the EU to lift the ban due to the progress made by Nepal in air safety.

ICAO's recent audit has shown that Nepal's aviation sector has made significant progress. In the flight safety audit, the world's average flight safety rate is 67, and the Asia Pacific rate is 63 per cent. For the first time in the history of air travel, Nepal has scored 70.1 per cent.

Since 2014, the European Commission under the EU has put Nepal on the flight safety blacklist, showing security concerns over Nepal's airspace. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) removed Nepal from its list of Serious Security Concerns (SSC) in July 2017.