Delivery of Chinese jets delayed by a month
KATHMANDU, FEB 02 -
The delivery of Chinese aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) will be delayed by a month.
According to NAC officials, due to the delay in the aircraft registration process, among other procedures, the delivery has been pushed to mid-April. China was scheduled to deliver the first batch of two Modern Ark 60 aircraft on March 15.
With the latest revision, NAC plans to induct the MA60 aircraft into its fleet for commercial operation by May. NAC plans to conduct test flights for 10 days at different airports before putting them into commercial service. The national flag carrier’s domestic fleet presently consists of one Twin Otter aircraft .
In addition to the two 58-seater MA60 turboprops, the NAC will also acquire four 19-seater Harbin Y-12e planes this year. Two of the planes are gifts from China.
“We will be receiving all the aircraft from China by October this year,” said NAC Spokesperson Ram Hari Sharma. NAC officials, however, said the delay will not affect NAC’s planned operations as the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has fast-tracked the registration process.
The aviation regulator has allocated “call signs”, or flight identification, to the eight new aircraft NAC has ordered. Apart from six Chinese-made aircraft , NAC has also ordered two short-to medium-range Airbus A320-200 planes.
On June 27, 2013, NAC confirmed its order for two jets by signing an aircraft purchase agreement with Airbus. As per the agreement, Airbus will deliver the first aircraft in February 2015 and the second in April. “We sent the call signs to the aircraft manufacturer a week ago,” Sharma said.
NAC applied for the registration code two months ago after obtaining the type certificate on Oct 23, 2013. NAC hopes to expand its share in the domestic market to 20 percent within a year after the planes join its fleet. Its current share is 1.57 percent. There were 1.10 million air travelers in Nepal in the first nine months of 2013.
Meanwhile, NAC has postponed its plan to introduce e-ticketing in the domestic sector until March. Earlier, it had planned to start the system by January-end. Sharma said due to procedural delay, including tendering, they shifted the date. NAC had introduced e-ticketing in the international sector five years ago.
Save our bread and butter: NAC
Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has said it is capable of providing quality ground handling services at Tribhuvan International Airport and has requested its line ministry to save its bread and butter. Amid reports that the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to involve private companies to improve the quality and standards of airport services through a competitive bidding process, NAC made the request to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. NAC’s five-year contract for TIA ground handling services, through which it earns Rs 2 billion in annual revenues, is expiring in mid-February. The carrier gives 10 percent of the earnings to the CAAN. Besides quality, foreign carriers
have been complaining that ground handling charges at TIA were expensive compared to other airports and they were being discriminated in terms of fees.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
