Nepal Airlines incurring loss of NPR 1.15 Crore everyday

Narrow body aircraft of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has been grounded at Tribhuvan International Airport for a month. The corporation’s call sign ‘9N-AKX’ Airbus A320 has been grounded for a month after engine problems.

There is no certainty as to when the engine will be repaired. Even if the grounded aircraft is not flying, the amount for the rental engine used in the aircraft is to be paid.
Even if the aircraft is not doing any commercial flights, NAC has to pay $2,000 per day for the rental engine. Within a month, the corporation has already spent $60,000 on the rental engine of the grounded aircraft. At the rate of 133.66 rupees per dollar, the corporation has already spent 80 lakh 19 thousand rupees only on the rent of the engine used in the grounded aircraft for a month.

Apart from this, the corporation has lost around 35 crores in income as the aircraft has been grounded for a month. Instead of repairing the engine and making the aircraft flyable, the corporation chairman Yuvraj Adhikari is making the employees to agitate against lawmakers to hide his weakness. He has not paid any attention to the repair of the aircraft.

The Corporation is losing Rs 1 crore 1.5 million daily just because the aircraft is grounded at the airport. In this way, the income of 345 million rupees in a month has been lost.

On the other hand, the corporation management is spreading false propaganda that the income has increased by comparing the income with the Covid period. Despite promoting the increase in income, the corporation has hidden the details of its expenses in the last financial year 2079/2080.

Based on the report published by the corporation study team a few months ago, the corporation has a loss of more than 2.5 billion in the last year. NAC hid the expense details because it was running at a loss.

By April 2023, the corporation had a loss of 2.16 billion in 10 months of the previous year. In 10 months, the corporation had earned 16.96 billion rupees, but in 2 months, adding false details of additional 5.28 billion rupees, the corporation is promoting that it earned 222.24 million rupees in the last year.

Corporation spokesperson Ramesh Paudel is also saying that the expenditure details of the corporation will be made public as per the requirement. Poudel, the spokesperson who signed the income statement, also says that he does not know anything about the loss of profit.

Even the political parties and leaders have no interest in the corporation’s bullying. Even the parties who are afraid to issue statements to cover unnecessary issues with nationalism have not spoken on this issue. They don’t question how much revenue they lost when the corporation’s aircraft was grounded for a month.

Just because Airbus A320 has been grounded for a month, the corporation has already incurred a loss of Rs 36 crore. The aircraft was grounded at Kathmandu Airport from July 16 to September 17, 2023 due to engine problems. At that time, there was a problem with the aircraft’s engine itself.

The aircraft was taken to IAI in Israel on 17 September for engine repairs. The aircraft arrived in Kathmandu on September 28 after leaving the damaged engine and installing a rented engine. At that time too, the aircraft was grounded at the airport for 61 days. While grounded for 61 days, the corporation lost more than 700 million in revenue from Airbus A320 flights. After that, the aircraft, which was brought into flight by installing a rented engine, has been grounded again since November 30.

The engine, which was sent to Israel for repair on September 17, has not yet been repaired. The maximum time for engine repair is 90 days but the engine is not repaired even after more than 100 days.

Corporation sources say that there has been a tendency to eat up commissions on rental engine amounts while delaying engine repairs.

The engine, which has now been sent to Israel for repair, had only minor problems. Although the company said that they will provide the engine within two months, they have not been able to make the engine even after 100 days.

The reason for the company delaying the engine repair is that the engine is rented from the company that has been entrusted with the engine repair.

The company has to pay $2,000 per day even if the aircraft using the leased engine is not flying and the longer the engine rental period, the more the company will benefit. The management has been accuses that the Corporation also has a setting on receiving a commission from this because of which it seems like no interest has been given in engine maintenance.