Kathmandu, September 21: NAC is expected to face a loss worth minimum Rs 900 million due to grounded of its two wide-body aircraft.
An NAC engineer said the corporation’s financial burden would reach at least Rs 900 million when lost business, potential repair costs and additional expenses incurred in managing passengers are taken into account. “This is an initial estimate. To determine the actual loss, the corporation’s official financial statements, repair costs and a complete accounting of passenger management expenses will have to be assessed,” he said.
After the two aircraft were grounded, NAC issued notices seven times and has already cancelled at least a dozen flights, including three flights to Japan. With its two wide-body aircraft unavailable, nearly a dozen flights to destinations including Guangzhou in China, Malaysia, Doha and Dubai have also been affected and have not operated according to schedule. As a result, hundreds of passengers were unable to reach their destinations at the scheduled times.
According to NAC, its wide-body aircraft had been operated for up to eight hours a day in recent months. The corporation said this generated an average daily business turnover of Rs 15.6 million. During the peak season, when an aircraft is operated for up to 12 hours a day, a single wide-body aircraft can generate business worth as much as Rs 30.6 million, according to NAC.
Based on the average daily turnover of Rs 15.6 million, NAC estimates that it lost about Rs 109.2 million in business over seven days after its Annapurna aircraft was grounded in Japan. The preliminary estimate is that the corporation lost around Rs 310 million in business over 20 days from its other wide-body aircraft, Makalu, which has been stranded in Italy. The combined loss of business from the two aircraft exceeds Rs 400 million.
NAC’s wide-body aircraft named Annapurna flew to Narita, Japan, on September 14. The aircraft was scheduled to return to Nepal the following day, but due to a technical problem, it has been unable to return even after a week. Another wide-body aircraft, Makalu, has been stranded in Italy for 20 days.
In the case of the Makalu wide-body aircraft stranded in Italy, the problem was detected during the final test following a C-check. According to NAC technical spokesperson Devendra Pun, after the C-check was completed, a problem was detected in the “thrust reverser brake” during the final test. As a result, the aircraft, which had been scheduled to return to Nepal on September 1, has remained at the maintenance facility in Italy. NAC had already finalized the aircraft’s flight schedule.
According to ministry officials, full technical approval from the concerned manufacturer, French company Safran, is still awaited to resolve the problem with the aircraft. Once approval is received, it is expected to take three to four days to complete the repairs.
To resolve the problems facing Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) permanently, the existing procurement law should be amended according to the corporation’s needs. The management should be made more professional, while the government should manage procuring new aircraft to expand the fleet for both domestic and international operations. The government should also introduce a public-private partnership model and end all forms of political and other unnecessary interference in the corporation.
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