Nepal Airlines: Nepal Airlines is facing heavy losses since many days. One reason for this is the plane made in China. Now Nepal Airlines has decided to sell its five Chinese aircraft as no one wants to take these aircraft even on contract. Earlier, loss-making airlines had offered to give these planes on contract, but no one came forward despite extending the deadline. Whatever Chinese aircraft are there, they are under the Finance Ministry of Nepal, but the public sector company Nepal Airlines operates them.
The Kathmandu Post newspaper quoted officials as saying that three Y126 aircraft with 17 seats and two MA60 aircraft with 56 seats have become a loss-making deal for Nepal Airlines due to breakdowns and shortage of pilots. Nepal Airlines wanted to get rid of these planes from a long time ago, but it could not happen due to bureaucratic hurdles. Now the officials have doubts whether anyone will buy them or not.
debt ridden airlines
Nepal Airlines aircraft are in debt, due to which the financial burden is increasing. Nepal Airlines bought the first batch of Chinese planes 8 years ago. Now the debt-ridden Nepal Airlines has decided that it will sell the planes after the instructions of the Ministry of Finance. In the year 2012, the Nepali government extended the purchase agreement of four Y126 and two MA60 aircraft from China. One of these aircraft is no longer in flying condition after the accident, while the remaining five aircraft are standing idle in the parking lot of Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport.
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Nepal Airlines is short of pilots
Apart from lack of maintenance and spare parts of the plane, pilots are also not available to fly the Nepal Airlines aircraft. After all the difficulties, there is no point in keeping the plane. Some officials of Nepal Airlines say, “They don’t think that anyone will take these planes on contract now.” In the year 2012, China had provided a loan of 6.67 billion Nepalese rupees i.e. 408 million Chinese yuan to Nepal.
Of the total amount, Nepal used 180 million yuan (Nepali 2.94 billion rupees) to pay for one MA60 and one Y12e aircraft. The other aircraft was bought with a soft loan from China’s Exim Bank for 228 million yuan (Nepali Rs 3.72 billion).
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