Nepal Airlines: Govt forms yet another study panel

KATHMANDU: The government has formed a committee to study the structural and managerial aspects of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC).

Former Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri leads the five-member committee. Other members of the committee include Captain Om Gurung, Tikaram Rai, Senior Chartered Accountant Piyush Anand and Sahara Neupane.

The committee has been tasked with the responsibility of studying organizational structural and managerial parts of the national flag carrier and submitting its report to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation along with necessary recommendations.

The ailing national flag bearer owes nearly Rs 50 billion to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Citizens Investment Trust (CIT). EPF and CIT lent the amount to the NAC to procure two single-aisle and two double-aisle jets after the government agreed to stand as a guarantor for the loans.

NAC operates a fleet of two Airbus A320s and two Airbus 330s for international flights and two ageing Twin Otters for the domestic sector.

The national flag carrier has not been able to get commercial success because of its failure to bring market expansion and business plan.