Miscellaneous
NAC imports 150,000 tons of aviation fuel after India's blockade
The Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has imported a total of around 150,000 tons of aviation fuel since the unofficial blockade imposed by Indian government on Nepal.The Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has imported a total of around 150,000 tons of aviation fuel since the unofficial blockade imposed by Indian government on Nepal.
The NAC held a bilateral agreement with Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to import aviation fuel for operating domestic flights of seven days to ease air route travel during the festive season.
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) had appealed to the Airlines Corporation to import fuel from air route in view of the difficulty in importing fuel products from the land route. The NAC has been importing fuel on a single flight every day directly from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) depot in Kolkata, India.
The fuel imported from NAC Boeing aircraft is being distributed among the domestic airlines companies. "We are importing fuel from social and commercial perspectives so as to avoid problems seen in the international flight," NAC Spokesperson Ramhari Sharma told the National News Agency (RSS). "We have imported fuel from two flights when necessary in a single day," he added. "We have already imported more than 150,000 tons of fuel," Sharma confided.
The NOC plans to import fuel until Fulpati. The total amount of fuel imported on a daily basis from two flights amounts to 66 tons.
An airline making domestic flights consumes a total of 50,000 litres of air fuel daily. The NOC has stopped selling fuel to international flights at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
NAC Spokesperson Sharma said the fuel was being imported from Boeing aircraft adding that the Corporation has planned to bring 330 tons of fuel until the Bada Dashain festival.
Similarly, NOC Spokesperson Deepak Baral shared that the supply of fuel would not ease until major customs points along the Nepal-India border resumed operation. He pressed for political and diplomatic measures to end the problem.
The widespread shortage of fuel and LPG gas is hitting hard the people, especially the city folks, for nearly three weeks.