NAC resumes domestic flight

The Nepal Airlines Corporation's (NAC) will resume domestic flights from tomorrow after 12 days of disruption.
The NAC employees' unions agreed to let the operations of their domestic flights from tomorrow after they received a letter from the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) that it will form a committee under the ministry's coordination.
The committee will also have representatives from Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal Airlines Corporation including its employees' unions, and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to sort out the demands of the unions.
The unions have been demanding the MoTCA to revoke the desicion to allow Air Arabia fly on Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur route and take immediate decision of buying the new aircraft for the ailing national carrier for the international route.
"Though financially NAC doesnot loose by not flying on the domestic routes, we have decided not to let the passengers of the remote districts suffer," Nimananda Khanal, vice-president of NAC Employees Organisition.
The airlines incur an annual loss of Rs 220 million from the domestic flights, according to the national flag carrier that flies around 15 flights in an average daily to various 25 destinations in the countries with its four -- of the seven -- 19-seater DHC-6-Twin Otter aircraft. The three Twin Otter aircraft are grounded.
The 25 destinations include Thankharka, Bhojpur, Kangel, where other private domestic airliners won't have any flights.
The flights were obstructed since December 15 and the three Twin Otters were grounded in Kathmandu and one in Biratnagar.
"But we are continuing the protest programmes to pressurise the management and the government," he said, adding that they will not let any high officials into the NAC office. The managing director K B Limbu was also not allowed in the office today as he is also a plitical appointee, according to the unions, who have two demands -- revoke the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur route of Air Arabia and early purchase of new aircraft for the international route as one of NAC aircraft is grounded due to technical glitch since a couple of weeks.

Air Arabia
KATHMANDU: UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCCA) has asked the CAAN on why was its low-cost airliner Air Arabia stopped from flying on Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur route one day before its scheduled flight. "I urge your authority to immediately grant permission to Air Arabia to exercise unrestricted fifth freedom traffic rights on Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector in compliance with the Article 6 of the MoU," said Omar Bin Ghaleb, director general of the GCCA in his letter to Ram Prasad Neupane, director general of CAAN. Air Arabia was scheduled to start its flight on the route from December 16 but has shelved its plan until further notice.