The two newly manufactured Harbin Y 12-e aircraft from China has arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) today.
Rabindra Shrestha, spokesperson of NAC told that the two new aircraft of Y-12 manufactured by the Harbin Aircraft Group, China, have arrived at the Tribhuvan International Airport at around 2 pm today.
The corporation newly arrived aircraft received new registration as 9N-AKU and 9N-AKV along with typical names of small birds such as “Maina” and “Chakhewa”. The Y-12e series aircraft has 17 seat capacity with ability to conduct flight on STOL (Short Takeoff and Landin) airfields.
Newly arrived Harbin Y-12e ‘9N-AKU’ at NAC hangar, TIA
With the arrival of these aircraft, NAC now holds 8 aircraft for the domestic flight operation.
Before the agreement was signed between the two governments, the Corporation team reached China and studied it. The main purpose of adding Y-12 is to operate flights on the Himalayas route.
However, till now the flight test has not been able to conduct in such route and NAC has not been able to produce profit from such aircraft due to lack of pilots. The Harbin Y-12e series aircraft remains grounded most of the time than it flies.
Harbin Y-12e ‘9N-AKV’ at NAC Hangar, TIA
So, the addition of two new such aircraft will be more burden for NAC as the ministry has claimed that the corporation is adding fleet without effective planning.
