KATHMANDU, MAY 11

The national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has moved ahead with preparations to procure two additional aircraft.

Today, a sub-committee of NAC management submitted a report to advance the work plan for procurement of two aircraft that can make flights to urban areas, with the aim to expand the corporation's inter-province operations.

In order to move ahead with the procurement of such aircraft at the earliest, a meeting of the board of directors held under the chairmanship of Ubaraj Adhikari, executive chairman of NAC, has formed a nine-member sub-committee under the coordination of Senior Captain Sudhir Shamsher Rai, a member of the board of directors. The sub-committee is said to have already started its works and will submit a related report within 21 working days.

As per NAC Spokesperson Ramesh Poudel, due to lack of aircraft operating in urban area airports (trunk routes), the corporation is not able to conduct operations to destinations that are beneficial in a commercial sense.

According to NAC, the related aircraft will be purchased in a transparent manner in accordance with the rules in coordination with the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. It is also said that the arrival of new planes will assist in promotion of domestic tourism, bring balance in the sector, help reduce airfares to some extent, make the services provided by the corporation effective, and in favour of the consumers. The corporation is confident that this will also fulfil its national and social responsibility.

At present, the corporation owns six aircraft, including two twin otters, two Airbus 320 and two Airbus A330. While the corporation is conducting operations to remote areas of the country with two Twin Otters, it has also been flying to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Japan, Hong Kong, Qatar, Malaysia and other destinations with two Airbuses.

A version of this article appears in the print on May 12, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.