Two companies have responded to the tender notice issued by Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) for the wet lease of an Airbus aircraft to substitute for its Boeing 757 which will be sent away for a 45-day maintenance check in mid-July.

The deadline for submitting bids ended on Wednesday. UK-based aircraft leasing company 12 Star Aviation and Bhutan Air have submitted proposals to lease aircraft, according to the corporation.

“The documents submitted by the companies will be evaluated by management and tabled at NAC’s board for approval,” said Sugat Ratna Kansakar, managing director of NAC.

The corporation had invited bids for the wet lease an Airbus A319, A320 or A321. It said that a temporary replacement was needed so the flight schedule would not be affected when the Boeing was sent for a long maintenance. The lease contract will begin on July 16 and last for 45 days, and it can be extended to 60 days, NAC said. The corporation plans to operate scheduled flights with the aircraft on the Kuala Lumpur, Doha, Delhi and Bangalore or other sectors. 

On April 10, the corporation put one of its two Boeing 757s up for auction. However, it did not receive a single bid for the 30-year-old jet. The deadline for bids has been extended till June 12. 

The minimum sale price for the 757 named Karnali and bearing registration number 9N-ACA has been set at $1.71 million.

The aircraft has been sitting outside the NAC hangar at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) since April 2016 following the corporation’s policy to phase out its Boeing fleet.

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 tonnes of fuel per hour compared to 2.5 tonnes for new aircraft. The move is also part of the national flag carrier’s plan to have an all-Airbus fleet for its international operations. The corporation plans to retire its second Boeing 757 by 2019.

The 9N-ACA arrived in Nepal in 1987 and flew on long-haul routes, displaying the national flag at world airports. The 757 holds 190 passengers. The Boeing 757 is a mid-sized, narrow body twin engine jet built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It debuted in the late 1980s and was in production until 2004.

NAC currently flies two A320 and one Boeing 757.