NAC will procure three Twin Otters this year: Minister Kirati

KATHMANDU: Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati has said that the state-owned Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) would acquire three Twin Otter aircraft in the current fiscal year.

Kirati said that the NAC would procure the three aircraft by mobilizing its internal resources and that the procurement process would begin before the Dashain holidays.

Meeting a delegation of the Nepal Students Union (NSU) – the student wing of the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) – on Sunday, Kirati said there was no alternative for NAC to expand its fleet to intervene in the country’s aviation market. “We will initiate the procurement process before the Dashain holidays begin,” Kirati said. “In total, there is a need to add 10 aircraft to NAC’s fleet.”

NAC currently operates a fleet of two Twin Otter aircraft for domestic flights. These aircraft are serving in different remote airfields.

Although NAC a few years ago inducted two 58-seater MA 60s and four 19-seater Harbin Y-12e aircraft for its domestic routes, the Chinese aircraft were grounded after just a few years in operation due to problems like a lack of spare parts, a shortage of pilots, and high insurance premiums. The national flag carrier has begun a process to get rid of these aircraft but isn’t finding any buyers.

The NSU delegation drew the attention of the government toward a lack of flights at remote airfields where aviation is the only dependable means of transport.