KATHMANDU: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jeevan Bahadur Shahi claimed that the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) would buy as many as 18 aircraft within his tenure.

It is expected that the incumbent government would stay in office for next eight months only as the ruling coalition partners CPN Maoist Centre and the Nepali Congress have reportedly made an agreement for the same.

Speaking with journalists in Kathmandu today, Minister Shahi said the six new planes would be allocated for international flights and 12 for domestic ones.

According to the newly appointed Minister, bringing new aircraft would pave a new road for further development in tourism sector in the country.

Shahi, meanwhile, said that internal flights should focus on providing services while international flights should be a commercial medium for generating revenue.

He also expressed his belief that Nepal would be removed from the the European Union's list of air carried banned from the European skies within his career.

The Nepali Congress leader also informed the journalists that he had already directed concerned bodies to make a master plan for tourism development in all the seven provinces in the country.

He further added that the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation had also ordered the authorities to improve present condition of the Tribhuvan International Airport and to provide full work plan for reconstruction of heritage sites destroyed by the 2015 earthquake within one month.