Speaking at NAC´s 52nd anniversary function, the minister said MoF had completely bypassed a report by its own high-level officials and followed the decision of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). [break]
PAC a month ago directed MoF not to implement an NAC board decision to purchase wide-body and narrow-body aircraft and to retrieve the lock-up money.
"This is a reflection of the past problem of taking aircraft on lease and throws NAC into utter insecurity out of selfish motives", Bhandari opined. He claimed that the entire purchase process is as per the existing rules and regulations and has not violated any rule.
Minister Bhandary said that the second international airport implementation and aircraft purchase processes, which had remained derailed since 10 years ago, were the major achievements of his tenure. Newly appointed secretary at MoTCA Kishor Thapa voiced commitment to buying two aircraf for NAC and to the success of Nepal Tourism Year-2011.
Sugat Ratna Kansakar, executive chairman of NAC, said the purchase process for the two aircraft has not been derailed and will be implemented soon. He claimed that in four years´ time NAC would make up for the accumulated loss of Rs 1.60 billion.
"We need to invest in purchasing aircraft for the financial uplift of the airline", Kansakar said. According to him, though NAC now has only two aircraft for international flights, occupancy at NAC is 73 percent higher than at any other international airline operating in Nepal. He said, "We need to extend our reach to Sydney, New York and cities in Europe".
He also announced the handover of a prize of Rs 100,000 to Ratnakar Chaudhary, NAC station manager at Pokhara Airport, for increasing business there for NAC five-fold.
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