Kathmandu, Oct. 4 -- Nepal's plan to get off the European Commission's Air Safety List by mid-January 2027 is at risk after two crucial bills aimed at ending the conflict of interest in the country's civil aviation system reached the lower house of Parliament only a few hours before it was prorogued on Friday.

The delay in passing the bills has put the government's own timeline for getting Nepal removed from the European Union's air safety list in jeopardy.

Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, while presenting the budget on May 30, had set a mid-January 2027 deadline for splitting the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal into separate regulatory and service-provider entities. Successive governments have included the reform in their budgets, but...