National Flag Carrier aim to add DHC 6 Twin Otter aircraft in its Fleet
December 15, 2016-Kathmandu
National Flag Carrier Nepal Airlines with an aim of adding another Twin Otter DHC-6 series aircraft to its fleet of two Twin Otters has called for a global tender. The airline prepares for replacement of three of the engines of the twin others among which two will be replaced for a grounded aircraft that will put it back to operation again.
After the replacement of the engines one Twin Otter aircraft of Nepal Airlines which has been grounded in hangar at Tribhuvan International Airport will be able to fly back in the sky again. The global tender has been declared to replace those three engines of Twin Otters. The maintenance companies which can provide overhauled engines in replacement of the unserviceable engines of the Twin Otters can apply for the tender.
Nepal Airlines although has 4 aircraft of Twin Otter series only one is in operation for it presently. One of the Twin Otters was grounded before 2 weeks and one has been grounded since 3 years. And similarly one is being flown by private airliner Tara Air under 10 years lease contract. With the Twin Otters it also has one MA 60 (56 seats) and one Harbin Y-12 (18 seats) for serving the domestic sector of Nepal.
Nepal Airlines has been serving 26 domestic destinations with this fleet of aircraft. The aircraft that will be able to fly again after replacement of the engines is a 10 decade old aircraft manufactured in Canada.
The global tender has deadline of 15 days and within that the company which will provide the cheapest service will be selected to work for the replacement of the engines in TIA, the airline’s spoke person Mr. Ram Hari Sharma informed. The airlines targets to operate the aircraft within 75 days from the tender selection date accomplishing the replacement of engines, he added.
The overhauling of the engines may take 6 to 8 months of long period due to which the airline is looking for the exchange with already overhauled engines.
The engines of grounded Twin Otters need to be overhauled. Nepal Airlines overhaul the engines of Twin Otters after every 4000 hours of their flight.
The replacement of each engine will cost an average of American three hundred thousand Dollars and the maintenance cost of engine by the airline itself will also cost similar to the airline. Nepal Airlines had called a global tender for replacement of 6 engines before a couple of years too.
