The national flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) hasn’t received permission for flight operation to Japan. The carrier had planned to operate its wide-body A330 for Japan within this month. However, the approval from the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) is uncertain.
NAC applied for flight approval to JCAB on 26th December, 2018 but the green signal is yet to be given by the Japanese aviation authority. The ground handling company of Japan, Cathay Kansai Terminal Service also informed NAC of its inability to provide ground services due to lack of manpower.
The Managing Director of NAC reports that Japan is showing dubious character by agreeing to provide permission for flights while showing hesitation on providing ground handling service again.
It has been predicted that Japan is hesitating to provide approval as the European Commission has blacklisted all the Nepali airline companies. Japan is wanting to deploy its technical team for safety audit of Nepal Airlines. The flight approval may be given after the team shows satisfaction with the NAC’s safety practices, says source.
Recently, JCAB asked NAC to resubmit the every documents for direct flight approval to Narita International Airport. Japanese Aviation Authority said that it was not satisfied with the documents submitted earlier by the corporation.
Japan government had informed to provide free landing and parking facility for a year for Nepal Airlines Corporation and only charge 72% for 2nd year, 50 percent for 3rd year whereas full charge to be taken only from the 4th year. But now, the JCAB has again asked NAC to resubmit the documents creating a confusion and further delaying the flight approval.
NAC has been working to acquire air operator certificate from Japan, China and Saudi Arabia as its current priority is higher for these destinations.
The corporation which currently flies to Malaysia, Qatar, UAE, Hong Kong, Bangkok and India is trying to expand its destinations for which necessary process has been started. NAC is operating international flights with 2 wide-body Airbus A330, 2 narrow-body Airbus A320 and a Boeing 757. A330s are intended to operate long haul flights so, the corporation is eyeing destinations such as Japan and Korea.
