Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), The widebody aircraft 9N-ALZ ‘Makalu,’ grounded due to landing gear, has departed to Malaysia.
As per the source, the aircraft departed to Malaysia due to a strict ban in Singapore even though it was planned to be sent to Singapore for maintenance.
According to the Tribhuvan International Airport, the aircraft departed at 10:30 am from Kathmandu to Kuala Lumpur today.
As it has been flying regularly, the maintenance company in Malaysia will do the technical handling of the aircraft.
It is said that it will cost around Rs 300 million for all these repairs. But the corporation will not spend a single rupee for this. Dim Prasad Poudel, managing director of the corporation, said that the insurance company would bear the entire cost.
The corporation had estimated that it would cost around Rs 1 billion if the aircraft had to be repaired as per AOG (Aircraft Under Ground). But the corporation is going to fix it differently. According to Poudel, the company initially demanded Rs 450 million for the ongoing maintenance. By bargaining, the corporation has agreed to repair the landing gear and replace the parts at the cost of Rs 300 million.
Poudel said that the corporation had selected the company as per the global tender to maintain the aircraft and replace necessary parts.
“We are going to repair the aircraft through a reinsurance company. There is no cost to the corporation for this.’ said Managing Director Poudel.
The aircraft landing gear had a problem after a heavy landing on January 8 against the norms. NAC has grounded the captain and co-pilot of the Airbus 330 for two months for failing to provide information by making a heavy landing against the standards.
