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KATHMANDU, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Nepal Airline Corporation (NAC), the state-owned aviation entity in Nepal, has said it has taken initiative to bring four Chinese aircraft on order.
As per the commercial agreement signed between Nepal's national flag carrier and Chinese supplier-AVIC International Holding in December 2012, Nepal would acquire six Chinese aircraft -- two in grant and four in soft loan.
Of them, the NAC has already acquired one 56-seater MA60 and one 17-seater Y12e delivered under grant component from the Chinese government but it is yet to take delivery of three Y12e and one MA60 under the loan component.
"We have received instruction from Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to move ahead for getting delivery of four Chinese planes after sorting out the issues appeared," said Sugat Ratna Kansakar, managing director NAC.
"We are holding discussion with the Chinese suppler on issues such as pilot training, easy availability of spare parts and maintenance support to ensure unhindered operation of the planes after their arrivals," he said.
The national flag carrier took step for delivery after the ministry's instruction last week, according to officials at the NAC.
According to Kansakar, the Chinese supplier has expressed readiness to keep stock of spare parts in Nepal so that the NAC should not take the plane to China when spare parts need to changed.
According to him, the NAC has the plans to get delivery of one MA60 and one Y122 in the first phase without fixing any deadline for the delivery.
"We want them to arrive as soon as possible," he said.
Nepal's aviation sector regulator -- Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has said that the regulator does not have much issue regarding the operation of the Chinese planes.
"We have already given type certificates to them," said Sanjeev Gautam, director general of CAAN.
A type certificate is a regulating body's approval, given to a manufacturing design that cannot be changed. It reflects a determination made by the regulating body that the aircraft is manufactured according to an approved design, and that the design ensures compliance with airworthiness requirements.
Chinese side has said that all the planes that Nepal had sought to acquire, are ready for delivery since 2015.
The aircraft, bearing NAC livery and Nepali registration numbers, have been sitting in the factory's hangar since then.
The first MA60, which Nepal had received as a gift from China, arrived in the capital Kathmandu in April 2014, and has been operating on trunk routes.
Another China-gifted aircraft, the Y12e, had landed in Kathmandu in November 2014. It is being used to serve remote airfields like Lukla, Jomsom, Manang, Simikot, Rara, Jumla and Dolpa. Enditem
