LOCAL NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Nepal urges to equip airport for safety

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Nov. 22: Discussions were held extensively on satellite-based communication, surveillance and air traffic management, aviation safety, security and issues related to regulatory aspects and promotion of technical cooperation at the 37th conference of the chiefs of the civil aviation authorities of Asia and the Pacific Region held in New Zealand, said the Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Medini Prasad Sharma.

Sharma, who had headed a three-member Nepalese team, said the international meet gave the team a valuable opportunity to share experiences among aviation officials.

"The conference was very fruitful as it evaluated the implementation aspects of the resolutions passed by the previous conferences," Sharma said.

The theme of the conference, held from November 13-17, was "Institutional Arrangement and Organisational Development of Civil Aviation Administration in the Changing Context."

The Nepalese team included Yagya Prasad Gautam, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Ram Prasad Neupane, Deputy Director at the International Department under CAAN that looks after International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and Air Agreement.

On behalf of Nepal, four working papers entitled Organisational and Institutional Development of CAAN, Bird Strike Problem at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Aviation Security in Nepal and Communication Navigation Surveillance (CNS) and Air Traffic Management (ATM) Implementation in Nepal were presented at the conference.

"The international community also came to know about our mission, vision and strategy. We also held talks with the leaders and representatives of various countries and donor agencies," he said.

According to him, the participants agreed to strictly follow the standards set by ICAO for enhancing safety and security at the airports. They reached a consensus to identify an effective mechanism to extend necessary support to those member countries that have been facing various problems. Other resolutions of the conference include continuing ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme, extending support to successfully organise the World Radio Council (WRC) meet in 2003 and ICAO’s protection of aviation frequency spectrum programme, launching standard and valuable training programmes and sharing the experiences of the Cooperative Development of Operators Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Programme (COSCAP-South Asia) with other countries.

The conference was jointly organised by the government of New Zealand and ICAO. Around 122 participants from 35 different countries, including the representatives of ICAO, International Air Transport Association (IATA) and International Federation of Airlines Pilots Association (IFALPA), took part in the conference.

The topic of the 38th conference to be held next year will be "Regulatory, Economic and Management Aspects of Airport and Airspace in the Context of Recent Development."

Meanwhile, the seventh meeting of the Steering Committee of COSCAP-South Asia was also held in New Zealand recently under the chairmanship of CAAN’s Director General Sharma, who is also the Chairman of the Steering Committe of COSCAP-South Asia.

Welcoming the aviation chiefs of the South Asia Region, Sharma highlighted the activities and achievements of the project. He informed that more than 1,500 civil aviation and airlines officials have been provided training so far. He also stressed on the harmonisation of regulations among the member countries and the sustainability of the project.

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