Kathmandu, Oct. 12
Finance Minister Dr. Prakasharan Mahat has urged the
European Union (EU) to remove Nepal from its Air Safety List.
He made the request at a meeting with the EU, Commissioner for
International Partnership, Jutta Urpialainen, at a sideline meeting with her
during the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund
being held in Marrakesh of Morocco, informed the Ministry of Finance (MoF) of
Nepal.
Since 2013, the EU has kept Nepal's air service companies in
'air safety' concern. This step bars Nepali airlines companies from flying into
the European skies.
Following the latest monitoring of Nepali airlines companies
in July last year, the EU had refused to remove Nepal from the air safety
concern. Another on-site monitoring was scheduled for February/March this year
which couldn't be happened due to the accident at Pokhara Airport in January
this year.
The Air Safety Committee of the EU, which updates its report
on air safety concerns every six months, has recently conducted an on-site
monitoring of Nepal. In response, Urpialainen said that she will work from the
embassy in Nepal and discuss air safety issues.
The Air Safety Committee of the EU has conducted an on-site
study on Nepali Air Service Company and air safety in August and September this
year.
According to a statement issued by the MoF on Thursday, FM
Dr. Mahat has also urged the EU to increase financial assistance to Nepal.
No comments:
Post a Comment