Nepal Airlines Corporation drowning further due to Chinese planes: Report
Apr 21, 2023
Kathmandu [Nepal], April 21 : Nepal Airlines Corporation, the government flag carrier, even after 60 years of its establishment has remained in debt for a long time, EPardafas reported. The Nepal Airlines Corporation, which faces a debt of around 50 billion, is drowning further due to Chinese planes.
As per the plan to take the corporation to profit, those Chinese aircraft were bought around eight years back. Four Y12 and two MA-60 planes were purchased with a soft loan and subsidy with a bilateral agreement between the Nepal government and the Chinese government, as per the news report.
The agreement for the purchase of Chinese planes was made in 2070 BS (Nepali calendar). According to the agreement, the MA-60 and Y-12 planes were to be taken under subsidy and the MA-60 and three Y-12 planes were under the loan, as per the EPardafas report.
Around 7 billion Nepali Rupees were used to buy six Chinese planes, which financially burdened the corporation. These planes were purchased for serving the people of the hilly and Himalayan regions. However, they became useless within three years. The corporation had to face losses for these planes each day.
The statistics of the corporation revealed that an average annual loss of 38 million Nepali rupees had been incurred since 2071 BS while flying these planes. As per the news report, the Chinese planes were bought by the corporation to replace the Twin Outer DHC 6 model planes which were in domestic service for four decades.
After some time, it was revealed that the MA 60 planes had low load capacity. Gradually, the financial burden on the corporation has been rising as the ship started facing technical problems, according to EPardafas report. The corporation has begun making preparations for the sale of grounded planes, as per the report.
In March, two representatives of the American Avian Asset Management Company travelled to Kathmandu to evaluate the sale of grounded Chinese planes for three years. The corporation has said that they will evaluate the planes within a month, as per the EPardafas report.
Citing sources, the report said that the Nepal government is preparing to purchase Chinese planes again. The corporation will be buying three planes for remote regions. In the statement released by the corporation on Monday, the seven-member committee has been set up and the corporation will buy aircraft of domestic aircraft for domestic flights from its own resources.
