 |
Nepal Airlines Corporation is all set to expedite its process to purchase four more Chinese aircraft by sending a high-level delegation to China. The move comes at a time when both China granted aircraft Modern Ark 60 and Y12E have proved to be white elephant for the national flag carrier.According to a source at NAC, a four-member team comprising Acting Secretary at Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Suresh Acharya, Airworthiness Engineer at Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Bidhan Shrestha and two NAC engineers Poshak Gyawali and LB Shrestha – is all set to leave for China on Thursday on a ten-day visit to resume the acquisition process.
“The team will inspect technical specifications of MA 60 in Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation and Y12E in Harbin Aircraft Industry Group and it will further recommend NAC’s board for acceptance of new aircraft,” it added.A source at Tribhuvan International Airport told this daily that a 17-seater Y12E was grounded for over a month due to lack of instructor pilot, while expensive insurance premium, as well as extensive cost of its spare parts, was bleeding the NAC’s finances since its arrival at TIA in April 2014.The 58-seater plane hardly made flights for a week in a month while NAC has to deposit Rs 2.46 lakh a day for insurance premium.According to NAC officials, the management has been compelled to proceed with the past agreement following an immense pressure from the Chinese authority despite its anticipated inability to handle the Chinese aircraft in the coming days.
“The team will inspect technical specifications of MA 60 in Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation and Y12E in Harbin Aircraft Industry Group and it will further recommend NAC’s board for acceptance of new aircraft,” it added.A source at Tribhuvan International Airport told this daily that a 17-seater Y12E was grounded for over a month due to lack of instructor pilot, while expensive insurance premium, as well as extensive cost of its spare parts, was bleeding the NAC’s finances since its arrival at TIA in April 2014.The 58-seater plane hardly made flights for a week in a month while NAC has to deposit Rs 2.46 lakh a day for insurance premium.According to NAC officials, the management has been compelled to proceed with the past agreement following an immense pressure from the Chinese authority despite its anticipated inability to handle the Chinese aircraft in the coming days.
|
0 comments: