France keen to help NAC expand

France is willing to help Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) acquire wide body aircraft that can directly fly to Europe.

"France is willing to help Nepal Airlines to get such aircraft," said Gilles Henry Garault, French ambassador to Nepal, speaking at a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between Buddha Air and Alliance Francaise here today.

"To develop the tourism sector, Nepal needs to have direct flights to Europe," he said adding that if Nepal connects to Europe directly, around 50,000 more European tourists can visit Nepal every year. The direct flight will reduce the time and expense of passengers, encouraging more European tourists to fly to Nepal. However, the Nepali flag-carrier NAC has no wide body aircraft for direct flights.

The European company's aircrtafts are, however, flying in the Nepali sky. Two ATR42s of Buddha Air has been flying in the Nepali sky since last year.

"ATR 42 has created more opportunities in the aviation sector," the envoy said adding that its alliance with Buddha Air will prove more fruitful for the Nepali aviation sector.

Birendra Bahadur Basnet, managing director of Buddha Air, agreed. "Buddha Air and ATR have created new opportunity for expansion in the Nepali aviation sector," he said adding that Buddha Air is currently flying two ATR 42s.

Buddha Air is currently flying ATR 42 -- that has potential for the regional sector -- and it will acquire a third ATR 42 on May 5. The private airlines' present two ATR 42s are operating in the eastern region.

"The third will operate in the western region," Basnet added.Basnet also said that Buddha Air is planning to expand and fly across the border to Indian cities. "With the ATR 42 -- an aircraft with regional potential -- Buddha Air wants to fly across the border," he said.

IFC-World Bank has financed the purchase of Buddha Air's two ATRs because they are the state-of-the art turbo-prop aircraft in their category. "The European aircraft has been able to create history in the domestic sector with the introduction of structured fares for Nepali passengers enabling them to fly at cheaper rates," Basnet said adding that the aircraft helped the airlines reduce the cost of operations and environmental impact.

Keshav Raj Jha, president of Alliance Francaise and Basnet singed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisation where Philippe Martin, director of AFK hailed the accord between the two institutions. According to the agreement, any French national who buys Buddha Air ticket across the counter will get a discount and $5 of the fare will go to AFK.