Kathmandu, August 9

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Legislature-Parliament today directed all civil servants to prioritise Nepal Airlines during their travel to foreign destinations for official purpose.

Stating that it is the responsibility of the government to promote Nepal’s national flag carrier, lawmakers at the PAC meeting today said that Nepal Airlines should be the first priority of civil servants during their international visits.

“We want to see our national flag carrier grow, but prefer travelling in other airlines even to the destinations where Nepal Airlines has regular flights, which is not good. Government staffers and the entire Nepali citizens should prioritise Nepali brand over foreign brands,” said lawmaker Ramhari Khatiwada.

Meanwhile, PAC also urged the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) to speed up the process of adding aircraft to its fleet and increase its flying destinations.

Currently NAC has three aircraft — two brand new Airbus planes and one 28-year-old Boeing — in its international fleet that are covering eight international destinations. Nepal Airlines is currently flying to different destinations in India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Dubai and Qatar.

Meanwhile, PAC had also collected various documents from NAC related to hiring of pilots and other staffers suspecting anomalies in the process.

NAC Spokesperson Rabindra Shrestha said that the PAC direction has come as per the recommendation of Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jitendra Narayan Dev and will help to promote Nepal Airlines.

“With increase in the number of passengers, NAC and the government will be compelled to add new aircraft to the fleet of the national flag carrier and add pressure to fly to more international destinations,” said Shrestha.