Relief for NAC as ICAO extends RNP installation deadline

HONGKONG, JUN 10 -

Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), which had decided to suspend its Hong Kong flights from July 10 due to its failure to install ‘Required Navigation Performance (RNP)’ equipment to abide by international flying norms, has been given 17 more months to do the job.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) extended the deadline after a number of international airlines failed to install the latest technology. “We were worried about losing one of the lucrative destinations due to the mandatory requirement,” said NAC Spokesperson Ganesh Bahadur Chand. “We will continue with same flight schedule on the Kathmandu-Hong Kong sector.”

At present, NAC operates three weekly flights on the route. Chand said NAC plans to lease an aircraft by October and that it will not face much pressure to suspend its existing flights on the sector.

The ICAO had asked airlines to install the equipment after its regional workshop in Hong Kong in 2010 decided to this effect. The workshop had decided that the system implementation would be started from Hong Kong and gradually would be expanded to other countries by 2016.

NAC started its Kathmandu-Hong Kong flights in 1982. NAC’s annual occupancy on the sector stands at 78 percent. “We have got a huge relief after the deadline has been extended,” said Dwarika Joshi, NAC’s manager in Hong Kong. “Otherwise, it would have been a big blow to our business.”

Source: The Kathmandu Post