Restructure Nepal Airlines For Rescue

Making reforms in the national flag carrier – Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) – has been ‘high on agenda’ for every successive Tourism Minister. They pledge to make every possible effort to give a new lease of life to this faltering airline. Incumbent Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Prasad Pandey has also followed suit immediately after assuming his office. But none of them has been found taking any much-needed step to improve the airline’s condition. NAC has kept on losing its repute both at national and international levels due to its mismanagement. Numerous notorious scandals such as Dhamija scam, Chase Air scam, Lauda Air scam, wide-body scam and narrow-body scam have caused huge damage to the airline’s financial health as well as image.  

Ineffective planning

The airline has now come to public attention once again not for any positive reason. Out of its four aircraft (two wide-body and two narrow-body) utilised for international services, three have been grounded. Only one narrow-body plane is in operation. This has caused much inconvenience to passengers, especially Nepali migrant workers and students, and foreign tourists willing to visit Nepal. Such a situation has emerged because of the airline’s ineffective planning and issues concerning aircraft maintenance. NAC appears to reel from this sort of situation time and again. Despite this, no concrete measures have been taken to improve the airline’s status.    

News reports have it that NAC’s Airbus A330 ‘Annapurna’ has been sent to Italy for carrying out C-check. The aircraft has been there for more than two months. The plane was supposed to return to Kathmandu some four weeks ago. But it is not certain when the aircraft will be arriving. It is suspected that the aircraft is yet to start undergoing the maintenance work. Such a delay in this routine maintenance has occurred due to alleged irregularities in awarding the contract. C-check is considered as a more extensive maintenance check which is done every 18-24 months. Under this check, an aircraft’s components, systems and structures are inspected in a comprehensive manner and the maintenance work is carried out accordingly. 

The NAC management is said to be preparing for dispatching the other wide-body aircraft ‘Makalu’ for C-check as soon as the aircraft grounded in Italy is brought home. But in view of uncertainty, the airline has not made public the flight schedule for ‘Makalu’. NAC’s flights to and from short-haul destinations have also be disrupted as its narrow-body aircraft (Airbus A320) ‘Sagarmatha’ has been grounded owing to technical hitches in its hydraulic system. Thus, only one narrow-body aircraft is now in operation. If this aircraft also goes through any technical issue, all its international services will come to a halt. To avoid this sort of possible risk, the NAC management should have worked out plans carefully. But the management seems to have bothered least about this. 

With the festive season at hand, a lot of Nepali migrant workers, students and others come back home to celebrate festivals with their family members. Festivals are really an important opportunity for international and domestic airlines to increase their business. Most international carriers serving Nepal have already come up with necessary plans to tap this potential. Passengers are bound to pay more money as airfare because of the monopoly of the international air operators. But NAC does not have any concrete plan. Its top-level management team just wants to stick to power with the motive of making personal gains at the cost of the organisation. 

The autumn is also a good season for foreign travellers to visit Nepal. However, looking at the national flag carrier’s worsening situation, it may not be able to serve tourists during this vital season. Tourism in any country thrives only when it has a strong national carrier with a better network. There is no denying that tourism is an important sector contributing to the national economy. This multidimensional industry is regarded as the second largest source of foreign exchange earnings following the remittance sector. Tourism also contributes to creating jobs and supporting various other sectors like agriculture, handicraft and transport.  

For landlocked nations like Nepal, the aviation sector holds a lot of significance in terms of promoting trade and tourism. Reports show that about 58 per cent of all international travellers travel to their destinations by air. Most foreign tourists enter Nepal by air. Despite having three international airports in the country, only the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been in full operation. And because of growing air traffic, the airport has become quite contested. 

Interference

It needs no mention that NAC, like many other public enterprises (PEs), has become synonymous with mismanagement and corruption. No management team has been found being committed, visionary and honest. This is because of unwanted political interferences. There has been a wrong practice of appointing the chairman, managing director and board of directors of the organisation on the basis a political ideology. Personal relationships and ‘monetary dealings’ are other bases for getting a lucrative political appointment. The competent persons with integrity rarely show their interest in grabbing powers and posts. Political parties and their leaders always want to give opportunities to their ‘yes men’ as those persons alone are ready to compromise with anything for doing unlawful activities. This is the main reason behind a growing level of irregularities in PEs. 

NAC has been in a financial crisis. Its debt has increased to Rs. 48 billion. The organisation had taken loans from the Employees’ Provident Fund and Citizen Investment Trust to purchase the four planes being utilised for international services. The airline’s market share in the international sector has been falling gradually. In 2020, it accounted for about 25 per cent market share. But in 2023, it decreased to 14 per cent. This really calls for concrete efforts without delay. The government, political parties and other stakeholders must contemplate about this seriously to protect it from being collapsed.  

(The author is a former deputy executive editor of this daily.)