Officials of international airliners have been lodging complaints about the ground handling service that the national flag carrier extends to 24 international airlines flying to Nepal. [break]
Though NAC officials claim about improvement in ground handling services at Tribhuvan International Airport, sources said international airlines are not happy with the quality of service that the national flag carrier provides.
NAC as the national flag carrier enjoys monopoly in ground handling service and tourism experts said the service is not up to the international standard. The national flag carrier, which has not increased its international fleet in the last two decades, generates a handsome income of around Rs 1.40 billion a year through ground handling service.
Tourism experts say ground handling service is the lifeline for the troubled national carrier. They complain that NAC is not providing facilities though its ground handling charge is regarded as among the highest in the world.
According to international airlines, NAC charges $3,000 to Rs $4,000 per flight, which is about four times higher than the fee charged by other service providers in the region. Ground handling service providers in India charge just $800 per flight.
High ground handling charge is one of the factor that is discouraging new airlines to fly to Nepal, a source said. International airlines also said the national flag carrier has not updated the emergency security manual since 2001.
“The manual should be updated at the earliest,” a source at an international airline told myrepublica.com. The source also added that there is lack of proper coordination between the national flag carrier and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), which manages TIA.
“Conflict of interest often emerges when airline operates ground handling service. Such practices are discouraged in international arena,” the source added.
Though the national flag carrier is drawing criticisms for its ground handling services, NAC Executive Chairman Sugat Ratna Kansakar said they would continue extending the services come what may.
“We may leave the field in favor of some private parties in the future provided that our core business of national and international flights became stronger,” Kansakar said, adding, “We aren’t going to discontinue the service at any cost.”
Sources at international airlines said though they have contracted ground handling task to NAC, their staffers still need to do certain jobs due to ineffective service delivery of NAC.
As per the contract, NAC should provide check in service for passengers and load and unload baggage among others. Representatives of international airlines complained that the staffers assigned for ground handling duties are not well-trained.
Kansakar accepted that their service delivery has been affected due to shortage of staffers for ground handling tasks. NAC has deployed about 80 staffers for the service.
International airlines sources also complained that shuttle buses to ferry passengers between aircraft and terminal are also not sufficient. Though there is a need for around 10 buses, NAC has put in service only four such buses. The national flag carrier recently brought a new shuttle bus at the cost of Rs 40 million.
“There will be shortage of shuttle buses if, say, seven international airlines landed at a same time,” the source added.
Kansakar said they have acquired different equipment to ensure effective service delivery to international airlines and passengers.
As per existing provision, international airlines having more than 14 flights a week can have separate ground handling service. But they have not been able to start ground handling service due to space constraints.
Of 25 international airlines flying to Nepal, only Indian Airlines and Thai Airways have separate units for ground handling.
Related story
NAC and Thai Airways reach agreement on TIA ground handling
