Kathmandu, February 13:

The board of the Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation today signed an agreement for the hike in pilots’ perk with immediate effect. With the signing of the agreement, the hike in the flying and meal allowances has now been confirmed, an Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation source said. The pilots had been demanding a hike in their salary and perks since long ago.

As per the agreement, pilots flying 70-75 hours will get additional of Rs 45,000 to Rs 50,000 a month, the source said requesting anonymity. A pilot can fly up to 100 hours a month.

The seven-member board chaired by Tourism Secretary Govind Prasad Pandey signed the decision taken based on a report submitted by a committee to review the pilots’ salary and perks.

The six-member review committee was headed by Krishna Bahadur Poudel, deputy general manager of the Corporation.

The pilots had threatened to quit their job if the corporation failed to raise their salary and perks on par with the private airlines’ pay structure in last December.

Their argument was that they used to received Rs 60,000 for 100 flying hours while those working for the private airlines used to get Rs 200,000 for the same job.