By Babbler

When the national flag carrier flies more on paper than in the sky

Once upon a time, Nepal had an airline that actually looked like a national flag carrier.

During the Panchayat era, the then Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation had a fleet of 19 aircraft operating smoothly on both international and domestic routes. Its employees had something increasingly unfamiliar in Nepal’s public sector—a sense of pride in their workplace. The Corporation earned money from international flights and used part of the proceeds to subsidise flights to remote areas across the country.

And, believe it or not, it even bought aircraft with its own money.

Those were the days when Nepal Airlines was an airline.

Today, the story is rather different. The national flag carrier has almost disappeared from the domestic aviation map and has only a modest presence internationally. More than 30 foreign airlines fly to Kathmandu, carrying passengers to and from Nepal and, naturally, carrying away a sizeable share of the foreign currency that could have been earned by our own airline.

Nepal Airlines, meanwhile, is trying to maintain its international identity with two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft serving a limited number of destinations.

One might wonder whether the airline is operating an international service or merely maintaining an international memory.

Nepal has the potential to welcome at least one million tourists a year. But while the tourists arrive, foreign airlines happily take them home again—and earn handsomely in the process. Our national carrier watches the business opportunity pass overhead, presumably while waiting for another aircraft to be grounded.

The irony is almost too perfect.

The new government has already completed six months, but it has failed to appoint a permanent executive chief for Nepal Airlines. Two appointments have already been suspended by the court because the candidates reportedly did not meet the corporation’s criteria.

Apparently, even appointing someone to run an airline, and our governments have yet to find one.

An airline being grounded by the government

The commercial banks have reduced interest rates, but Nepal Airlines is still compelled to pay interest of around 10 percent or even more to two government agencies. In other words, while the banks are coming down to earth, the government is keeping its interest rates at cruising altitude.

Instead of helping the national carrier become competitive, the government seems determined to make sure that every possible opportunity to earn foreign currency remains someone else’s business.

The airline is also suffering from the absence of an appropriate procurement law. As a result, spare parts are frequently unavailable, aircraft remain grounded for days, and passengers are left wondering whether their flight has been cancelled because of bad weather—or bad administration.

At this rate, the biggest challenge facing Nepal Airlines is not turbulence. It is bureaucracy.

Then there are the grounded aircraft that the government has been unable to dispose of. Around half a dozen aircraft remain parked at Tribhuvan International Airport, accumulating parking charges while generating absolutely no revenue.

It is a remarkable business model: an airline that pays money for aircraft that do not fly, pays interest on money it cannot efficiently use, and loses passengers to airlines that do fly.

If this is not an example of how to run an airline into the ground, one wonders what is.

Political economics: promises at cruising altitude

The same comedy can be observed in our political economy.

Whenever political parties publish their manifestos, the country suddenly appears to be only a few paragraphs away from becoming a paradise. Reading the promises of political leaders, one gets the impression that unemployment will disappear, industries will mushroom, infrastructure will rise overnight, corruption will be defeated and Nepal will soon be competing with the world’s most prosperous nations.

Then the election ends.

Reality returns.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), for instance, made an impressive list of commitments after assuming power and promised to deliver results within six months. Six months have now passed, and the report card is not exactly something to frame on the wall.

This Babbler remembers that, according to the promises, work on the Nijgadh international airport would have started within six months.

Perhaps the airport has started somewhere.

Unfortunately, it has not yet started in Nijgadh.

The same optimism is now coming from Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa, who has spoken strongly about industrialising the country and creating employment opportunities for Nepali youths.

It is certainly a welcome ambition. Nepal desperately needs industrialisation and jobs. But after decades of hearing similar promises, people have learned to distinguish between an industrial policy and an industrial-strength speech.

Nepal needs fewer promises and more engines

The problem is not a shortage of manifestos. Nepal has enough manifestos to build several airports.

What Nepal lacks is implementation.

Nepal Airlines needs professional management, a reliable fleet, a sensible procurement system, competitive financing, and freedom from political interference. The country also needs a government that understands that a national flag carrier is not merely another government office with wings.

If properly managed, Nepal Airlines could earn foreign currency, support tourism, connect remote regions and strengthen Nepal’s economic sovereignty.

Instead, we are allowing foreign airlines to do the profitable part while our own carrier struggles with grounded aircraft, high interest costs, procurement problems and political appointments.

Perhaps the time has come for the government to stop asking why Nepal Airlines cannot fly higher.

First, it should make sure that someone has remembered to remove the chains from its wheels.

Otherwise, the national flag may continue to fly proudly on the tail of the aircraft—while the aircraft itself remains parked on the ground.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

There appears to be an illusion at the political level that policy problems can be solved simply on the basis of common sense. However, such solutions are often ineffective and, at times, even counterproductive. In Nepal, where the culture of study and research remains weak, this tendency itself has become a cause of problems.

Surya Raj Acharya

—

Perhaps the party constitution itself has a key provision stating that, the moment someone is identified with a particular party, they must start talking nonsense. Now Sahaji has apparently said that if rice cannot be imported, we should grow maize and eat that instead.

The late agricultural expert Bholaman Singh Basnyat used to say that Nepalis have a “rice-eating habit”—in other words, they cannot live without rice. Looking at the Agriculture Ministry’s data, the production of paddy and rice has actually been increasing.

As for maize cultivation, farmers in the hills and mid-hills are already struggling with such crops because of the severe infestation of monkeys and wild boars. They are increasingly worried about what to do with crops in such circumstances. And then, a woman leader from the same party says that monkeys are our “close relatives.”

Gajendra Budhathoki

—

Two video clips are particularly important for understanding in depth the Maoist war, the political objectives of Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai, who led that war, the Constituent Assembly, the abolition of the monarchy, and other important developments.

And there was one figure who was involved in all these developments: King Gyanendra. History should remember his position: “I cannot join hands with the Maoists by excluding the democratic forces.”

Sharad Raj Pathak

—

I have no personal complaint against Resham Chaudhary for asking, “Why was our religion exchanged along with the republic?”—as though he had been unaware of what had happened to the country’s identity, religion and culture over the past thirty years, and has now come forward to give speeches asking, “Why was my religion exchanged?”

Everyone makes mistakes. But my only view is that the Nepali Congress should also correct its past and move forward with the agenda of a Hindu state along with a monarchy.

However, I do have a question for Resham Chaudhary: Was the republic not introduced through the 12-point agreement reached in New Delhi, with the agreement being signed at the insistence of foreign powers? Where was the concern for religion, culture and national identity at that time?

If religion, culture and identity have only become important now because he fears losing his political existence, then the people have every right to ask questions.

Let us not forget history, because the people have not forgotten everything.

Shashank Ghimire

—

Prachanda-ji is already having a hard time running his party. Gagan, why don’t you merge the Nepal Communist Party into the Nepali Congress?

Instead of supporting each other from outside, it would be easier to do so from within. After all, the Congress has been following the Prachanda Path, along with republicanism and secularism, and has embraced the leftist ideology. So why remain outside?

Lokesh Dhakal

—

Did the Nepali people really bring the republic? Or have the bundles of survey results showing that people want a Hindu kingdom and a monarchy been hidden away in a warehouse in Singha Durbar because those advocating the present system are afraid of them?

The republic was brought by foreign moneylenders from the Gulf and Europe, along with the dollar and euro, through their submissive agents such as Bharuram and others. The matter is clear.

Dipak Gyawali

—

Life is becoming increasingly difficult day by day. The state knows how to collect taxes, but the question of how successful it has been in creating an environment that increases citizens’ incomes and production is becoming increasingly serious.

Raising taxes alone does not strengthen the economy, speeches do not create jobs, and political talk does not put food on the stove.

Binod Neupane

—

Increasing the size of the Nepali Congress Central Working Committee will not enhance the party’s relevance. It also needs a cadre of leaders and workers with a sense of patriotism, principled politics and a high moral standing.

You may be surprised to know that when the Nepali Congress won a majority in 1991, its Central Working Committee had only 21 members.

—

Excerpted and translated by Sushma Shrestha.