Kathmandu, Feb. 11 -- The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said it was 'unlikely but possible' that Nepal Airlines' would start flying to Osaka in March-end, indicating that the national flag carrier had many safety deficiencies to fix first. The aviation agency's statement followed Nepal Airlines' announcement that it would be launching a nonstop service to Japan with its brand new Airbus A330 next month.

A senior safety official at the aviation authority told the Post on Sunday that Nepal Airlines had to address at least 24 findings, with four-five of them being major ones, and it would take months to resolve them. An internal audit report of the national flag carrier was carried out in early 2018, but nothing has been done so far, th...