The government has begun a fresh effort to bring the four Chinese aircraft on order whose delivery had been stalled after issues appeared in the ones that arrived previously.

On Thursday, the Tourism Ministry told Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) to resume the process of taking delivery of the four planes—one 56-seater MA60 and three 17-seater Y12e.

The aircraft delivery process had been put on hold for the last two years after NAC reported many problems, including load restrictions, in the two that have joined its fleet.

The manufacturer completed assembling the three Y12e for Nepal in early 2015. The aircraft, bearing NAC livery and Nepali registration numbers, have been sitting in the factory hangar since then.

A meeting chaired by Tourism Minister Jeevan Bahadur Shahi last Tuesday decided to sort out the pending issue as soon as possible. “The ministry issued orders to NAC to conclude the process on its own,” said Joint Secretary Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane.

The national flag carrier has been given wide leeway in deciding how it wants to proceed. It has been mandated to review the commercial air service agreement signed in November 2012 between NAC and the aircraft supplier AVIC International Holding Corporation of China, Lamichhane said.

The commercial agreement does not address long-term maintenance and training and engineering service support required for sustainable operation of the aircraft.

“Most importantly, NAC has been given a choice to consider other pertinent issues that need to be addressed to reap the maximum benefit while flying these aircraft in Nepali skies,” he said.

The corporation has also been asked to form a technical team comprising officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal to resolve problems observed on the operations and airworthiness front.

The MA60, which Nepal had received as a gift from China, arrived in Kathmandu in April 2014, and has been operating with a load restriction on trunk routes.

Another Chinese-gifted aircraft, the Y12e, landed in Kathmandu in November 2014. It can be used to serve remote airfields like Lukla, Jomsom, Manang, Simikot, Rara, Jumla and Dolpa with a load restriction.

The earlier government had twice submitted a proposal to the Cabinet to bring the aircraft after NAC, with a number of conditions, agreed to induct them into its domestic fleet. The plan was forgotten following a change in government. 

Meanwhile, a government fact-finding committee has found that the utilization of the Chinese aircraft is very poor in Nepal.

In November 2013, the Cabinet had given the go-ahead to the government to sign loan and grant agreements with China to procure six aircraft for the national flag carrier.

China has provided one MA60 and one Y12e worth Rs2.94 billion as gifts. The other aircraft are being bought with a soft loan of Rs3.72 billion provided by China’s EXIM Bank.

According to government officials, the bank has made an 80 percent down payment to the aircraft manufacturer.