Nepal Airlines Corporation (Nepal Airlines) is continuously facing a business downturn. According to the publicly released report, the corporation is experiencing a loss of up to 45 crore rupees monthly when one wide-body aircraft is grounded.
From Shrawan to Falgun of the current fiscal year 2080/081, the corporation has earned a total revenue of about 10.5 billion rupees, which is significantly lower compared to earning in same time interval in past fiscal years..
All the corporation’s four Jet aircraft for international operations have been able to fly together only for a total of 50 days due to different operational and technical problems. Even though the corporation has two wide-body aircraft, only one wide-body aircraft of the corporation was flying continuously from Asadh to Mangsir 24. At other times, one wide-body aircraft of the corporation was grounded. This also has significantly affected the revenue.
According to corporation sources, expenses have increased more than in previous years. However, there has been a decline in revenue. The corporation spokesperson Ramesh Paudel explains that despite the decrease in revenue due to the grounding of Nepal Airlines’ wide-body aircraft, there is no decrement in the expenditure amount.
When looking at the revenue so far, this time, the corporation has incurred the most losses in history. However, the specific data on how much loss the corporation incurred in the previous fiscal year 2079/080 has not been made public. Within the current fiscal year, from Shrawan to Baisakh, within a span of 10 months, the corporation had suffered a loss of 2 billion 16 crore rupees.
According to corporation sources, during the last fiscal year, the corporation suffered a loss of 3 billion rupees. In the fiscal year 2077/078, the corporation had incurred the highest losses ever, with a loss of 4 billion 40 crore rupees. The main reason for the increased losses that year was the COVID-19 pandemic.
When looking at the business in the current fiscal year, the corporation plans to earn around 5 to 6 billion rupees in the remaining 4 months. While the corporation earned 6 billion rupees, it aims to cover the revenue shortfall of 16 billion rupees. However, even during the current fiscal year’s 10 months, the corporation saw an increase of 2 billion 16 crore in expenditure, which indicates that the corporation may incur more than 5 billion rupees in losses during the current fiscal year.
Which month had how much revenue?
In the current fiscal year’s 8 months, the month with the highest revenue was Kartik. In Kartik, the corporation operated four aircraft (two wide-body and two narrow-body) for international flights. During that month, the corporation earned 1 billion 67 crore rupees. However, in any other month, all four aircraft of the corporation did not fly simultaneously. One of Nepal Airlines’ wide-body aircraft remains grounded continuously.
From Asar 20 to Mangsir 14, the corporation’s four aircraft were in operation. Due to this, in comparison to Kartik, the corporation earned slightly less, only 1 billion 50 crore rupees in Mangsir.
Similarly, in Ashoj, the corporation operated its four aircraft for 20 days. Due to the ongoing grounding of one of the corporation’s wide-body aircraft, the corporation earned only 19 crore rupees less compared to Kartik. In Ashoj, the corporation earned 1 billion 50 crore rupees.
Furthermore, since Shrawan 1, the corporation’s aircraft have been grounded one by one. The grounded aircraft, whose engine was damaged, returned to flight in the first week of October after repairs. However, the same aircraft has not been flying since Mangsir 14. However, despite the grounded aircraft, the corporation has incurred expenses of $2,000 for engine repair.
