December 13: Nepal Airlines Corporation has been unable to properly manage its six Chinese aircraft that have been grounded since July 30. The state-owned airline company is looking for alternatives after the Ministry of Finance said that it is the responsibility of NAC to properly manage the aircraft.

A board meeting of NAC decided to ground the Chinese aircraft after the company faced losses more Rs 5 billion while operating those aircraft during the last five years.

It has been more than four months since NAC took the decision to ground the aircraft but has failed to properly manage the aircraft.

NAC board had written a letter to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation in July that it is not viable to operate the Chinese aircraft and had also requested the ministry to seek alternatives for the management of the aircraft. The tourism ministry sought advice from the finance ministry regarding this matter. The Ministry of Finance then informed that the NAC itself should be handed the responsibility of managing the aircraft.

General Manager of NAC Dim Prasad Poudel says they are weighing various options for managing the grounded aircraft.

The state-owned NAC is considering either to return the Y-12 E and MA-60 aircraft to AVIC International Holding Corporation or to issue tender notice for selling the aircraft. Renting the aircraft to other companies is also one of the options while the fourth alternative is to hand over the aircraft as down-payment while procuring new aircraft. NAC is coordinating with the tourism ministry for considering one of the four options for the management of the aircraft.

The flag carrier of Nepal had procured four Y-12 aircraft with seating capacity of 18 and two 56-seater MA-60 aircraft from a Chinese company in 2015. Among those aircraft, only one MA-60 and one Y-12 are in a condition to fly. The other MA-60 aircraft and two Y-12 were grounded since a long time. Another Y-12 met with an accident during a domestic flight. The aircraft were purchased with a concessional loan and grant of Rs 5.2 billion from China.

The NAC board meeting concluded that it is not profitable to operate Chinese aircraft because of the cost factor. The insurance premium for these aircraft is 35 percent more than other aircraft while the pilots are not easily available.

As the company has to produce the pilots itself, the cost becomes more expensive than operating Airbus 320, the board noted.

Similarly, the spare parts of these aircraft are 75 percent more expensive that other aircraft. On the other hand, it takes a long time for delivery of the spare parts of these aircraft, said a source requesting anonymity.

According to the NAC source, both the aircraft lack instructor pilots and the training for such aircraft costs four times higher than normal training. In the meantime, the fuel consumption of the Chinese aircraft is double than other aircraft.

NAC is planning to procure new aircraft for domestic flights but is unable to do so until it manages the grounded aircraft.