After a long wait and disputes over selling of the flag carrier’s 30 years old Boeing 757 ‘Karnali’ with registration 9N-ACA, it prepares to take off as an operational passenger aircraft for Kathmandu-Delhi sector in nearest future. This aircraft debarred by Nepal Airlines for passenger flights comes back to life again after BB Airways’ Managing Director Mr. Bhawan Bhatta finalized its purchase through the tender called by Nepal Airlines. The aircraft was put on sale by Nepal Airlines disqualifying it for passenger service.
The flag carrier had set 1.71 million USD price ‘Karnali’ however, the corporation had planned to sell its 30 years old Boeing with the minimum sale price of 1.5 million USD but still no bidders were willing to buy the aircraft at that amount until Mr. Bhatta decided to acquire it for his BB Airways.
The aircraft which was purchased for 1.5 Million USD after going through a major maintenance will be competent to fly for and will only be flown for Kathmandu-New Delhi-Kathmandu said Mr. Animesh Kumar Mishra, CEO of BB Airways. The decision to send the Boeing to Delhi or Malaysia for maintenance is yet to make he added.
The BB Airways also will come back to operation after accomplishing the purchase of this aircraft. Furthermore, with this purchase the discussion for procurement of another Boeing aircraft followed by addition of Airbus aircrafts is also going on said Mr. Mishra.
BB Airways had previously started its commercial flight on 8th Bhadra 2069 to Malaysia from a leased Boeing aircraft and all its operation was shut three months later.It has been reported that BB Airways has already paid amount of one hundred and fifty five thousand USD to Nepal Airlines as initial payment for the Boeing aircraft.
Nepal Airlines Corporation induced Boeing 757 ‘9N-ACA’ in 1987 and has been serving on the long-haul routes of Nepal. The Boeing 757 is a mid-sized, narrow body twin engine jet built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes and can accommodate 190 passengers on-board. It debuted in the late 1980s and was in production until 2004.
The aircraft is grounded on the hangar facility of NAC at Tribhuvan International Airport since April 2016 following the corporation’s policy to phase it out. NAC decided to retire the aircraft after conducting a cost-benefit analysis. Based on the operational cost analysis, it does not make sense to fly the aircraft, it said. The Boeing 757 burns 4 tons of fuel per hour compared to 2.5 tons for new aircraft.
