KATHMANDU: Aviation experts today handed out a poor report card to the state-owned Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). They suggested that NAC should not strike a deal with French major Airbus Industrie to buy aircraft — the pact was inked at the Dubai Air Show recently — till its house was set in order. The ailing NAC has been beset with management dispute, which, in a way, has been contributing to its mounting losses.
The experts aired their view at the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting, which consulted them on NAC’s bid to purchase two aircraft for its international operation. Of late, PAC has been holding a series of meeting to help NAC improve its international image. The panel wants the company to ensure transparency in financial transactions and allied management issues ahead of striking the jumbo deal.
Sugat Ratna Kansakar, executive chairman, NAC, told PAC that the corporation was all set to purchase two Airbus aircraft — a wide-body A330-220 and single-aisle jet A320 — to operate in Asian and European
sectors. Achyut Raj Pahadi, an aviation expert, maintained that the deal did not make sense since NAC had been in the red for long. Lawmaker Rabindra Adhikari pointed out that NAC’s deal flouted the economic regulations. “It has lost credibility. Besides, the Rs 55-million payment to Airbus Industrie was uncalled for,” he added. KK Singh, a keen watcher of the aviation sector, opined that frequency policy changes were detrimental to NAC’s management. “It’s hard to predict whether the purchase of the two aircraft would help the company,” he explained.
