Lease plane for flag carrier: Nepal PAC orders govt
28 August 2007
The Nepal parliament's Public accounts committee (PAC) has directed the government to lease aircraft for the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines, and maintain scheduled flights during the upcoming peak tourist season, beginning mid-September.
Pari Thapa, chairman of the committee, read out a five-point directive saying that the ministry needs to take necessary measures to acquire two extra engines, so that no flights get cancelled owing to mechanical failures.
Saying that the present management cannot run the corporation properly, the committee ordered the ministry of culture, tourism and civil aviation (MoCTCA) to take necessary steps and make the management of the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) professional and efficient.
The five-point directive has also instructed the ministry to work out within a month a detailed plan on how to operate the carrier under a public-private concept.
The committee also asked the ministry to find out which officials were responsible for the mess and take action against them within a month. The national flag carrier is notorious for bungling. Delayed and cancelled flights have become the norm, rather than the exception.
Some members of the parliamentary watchdog said that a third aircraft was necessary just to maintain flight schedules as the two existing aircraft show occasional technical problems.