Nepal urges EU to lift air traffic ban

Nepal has urged the European Union to lift an air traffic ban imposed, stating that the Himalayan country has made significant progress on aviation safety, the foreign affairs ministry said here yesterday.Foreign Affairs Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat made the request to European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker during their recent meeting in Brussels, Xinhua news agency reported.“The European Commission President assured the foreign minister of looking into the matter positively based upon the facts to be provided by the government of Nepal,” the ministry said.The EU imposed a blanket ban on all airlines from Nepal from flying into the 28-nation bloc since December 2013 under the changes to a list of unsafe carriers better known as “the EU air safety list”.During the meeting, Mahat also sought enhanced level of support from the EU in Nepal’s infrastructure development and post-earthquake reconstruction efforts, the statement said.The Nepalese minister also held a meeting with EU’s Vice President Federica Mogherini where the latter expressed the bloc’s commitment to support in Nepal’s development efforts, post-earthquake reconstruction process, constitution implementation and electoral support.