Kathmandu, September 8

The newly appointed Secretary for Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) Dinesh Thapaliya has underlined the need to provide air service to remote parts of the country through existing airports rather than constructing new ones. He said so during an inspection visit of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) today.

NAC has to focus on expanding and improving its service standard to achieve the past glory of the national flag carrier, according to Thapaliya. He was appointed as the new secretary of MoCTCA by the government on August 13.

During the meeting with Thapaliya, Sugat Ratna Kansakar, managing director of NAC, said that even though national flag carriers are meant to focus on providing services rather than being profit oriented, NAC has never faced a loss so far. He also said that NAC needs two wide-body aircraft to expand services.

After procuring two narrow-body Airbus A320 aircraft, the national carrier has been gradually resuming services to its old destinations. NAC resumed service to Delhi in February and to Mumbai after a gap of 11 years on September 4. Earlier on September 1, it restarted flights to Bangalore, India. It is also planning to operate service in Kathmandu-Kolkata sector and fly to Guangzhou, China, which will be a new destination.

Briefing about the plan to buy two wide-body aircraft, Kansakar said that it would have a positive impact over the long run if the government manages to buy the planes with internal resources. As part of its fleet expansion, NAC has been planning to seek loan from the domestic market to buy the two wide-body planes within 18 months.

At present, NAC has two Boeing 757 and two A320 aircraft. It has been showing urgency to procure two wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft to replace the Boeings that were bought nearly three decades ago and expand its reach in the global market.

Representatives of the workers’ unions of NAC said that collaborative effort of the government, management and staffers are vital for development of the national flag carrier.