Kathmandu, April 9
Nepal is set to receive the prestigious ‘ICAO Council President Certificate’ from International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for the progress made in the country’s aviation safety.
ICAO is providing such certificate to 14 nations, including Nepal, for the significant progress that these nations have made in 2017 in resolving safety oversight deficiencies and improving the effective implementation of ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices.
Along with Nepal, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Panama, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda and United Republic of Tanzania will be granted the ICAO Council President Certificate, according to ICAO.
ICAO has been providing the council president certificate to different member nations every year to honour the progress made by them in air-safety measures.
Officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) – the aviation sector regulator – said that Nepal receiving the ICAO Council President Certificate means a lot, especially in the backdrop of country’s aviation safety often coming under fire.
“Aviation safety in Nepal has progressed significantly in recent times and Council President Certificate from ICAO is the appreciation of the improvements we have made,” said Sanjiv Gautam, director general of CAAN, adding that the government will further enhance aviation safety in the country in the coming days.
ICAO awards Council President Certificate to member nations basically on the basis of results of ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme Continuous Monitoring Approach (USOAP CMA) activities, including audits, ICAO Coordinated Validation Missions (ICVMs) and off-site validation activities.
An ICAO Validation Mission in July first week last year had made comprehensive assessment of CAAN, focusing on flight operations and airworthiness and major oversight areas relating to aircraft operations, including legislation and organisation. Consequently, ICAO had removed Nepal’s aviation sector from ICAO blacklist.
A version of this article appears in print on April 10, 2018 of The Himalayan Times.