Safety versus Business: CAAN’s conflicting roles

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the country's autonomous civil aviation regulatory body also wears the hat of a service provider, which is conflicting in nature.

As a regulator, it ensures civil aviation safety, security, and efficiency through regulations.

As a service provider, it provides services in the areas of Air Navigation Services and Aerodrome Operations, including operating the country's entire airports.

In 2022, the global aviation watchdog, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) asked Nepal to separate this functional authority accordingly, making it a high priority.

It is also one of the preconditions for Nepali airline operators to find their airways to the European Union (EU) aerospace where Nepal is currently banned since 2013 following the 2012 Sita Air crash.

The separation of authority however has been on the discussion table for the past one and a half decades since it was proposed by the government in the 2007/08 Three-Year Interim Plan.

A bill for separation of authority was then registered in the National Assembly (upper house) in 2020 and passed in 2021 but failed to make progress at the House of Representatives (HoR). The bill is now in limbo.

Experts see this functional separation as vital to meet civil aviation safety standards because CAAN’s current two roles have conflicting interests, and separation would mean that it could exclusively work on aviation safety and security.