-KATHMANDU
The stated owned flag carrier of nation, Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has demand the government to provide Rs 5 billion for the purchase six new aircraft.
The Corporation earlier had already dispatched the request to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) as it plans to buy six Twin Otter. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has already endorsed the proposal and forwarded it to the Ministry of Finance. If the Finance Ministry approves the plan, it will be sent to the Cabinet for the final decision.
Managing Director for NAC, Mr. Sugat Ratna Kansakar stated that the carrier wants to increase its paid-up capital to Rs 20 billion; and Rs 5 billion has been sought from the government in the first phase. Later, the government will give the Corporation Rs 15 billion in different phases, according to him. The paid-up capital of the Corporation stands at Rs 360 million now.
MoCTCA Minister Rabindra Adhikari had announced earlier that the Corporation would purchase six Twin Otter aircraft in the first 100 days of his office but Kansakar said that the new aircraft will join its fleet within next one year.
The DHC -6/400 and DHC-6/300 Twin Otter are 19 seater Canadian-built STOL (Short Take-off and Landing) utility aircraft. The aircraft’s fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL abilities and relatively high rate of climb have made it a successful passenger airliner in the mountains of Nepal over the last few decades.
