There was a time aback the NAC, accepted as RNAC in the old days, area 'R' stood for royal, which was removed from the corporation's name afterwards the political change of 2006, stood for quality. Apparently, with the abatement of 'royal' from its name, the airline's 'royal' canicule were gone too! At one point in time, it was aerial high, axis out to be the country's better employer and accomplished adopted bill earner.
However, it has been brought bottomward by political intervention, abridgement of able leadership, mismanagement, and corruption. Defaults on its absorption and chapter claim to lenders began for the aboriginal time in its 66-year-old history bristles years ago in 2019, arch amid them the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and the Citizen Investment Trust.
Today, its absolute debt accountability stands at a whopping Rs 51 billion. In the aftermost six years, the NAC has done business account Rs 96 billion, but this sum avalanche abbreviates of alike repaying the adaptation of the airline that owes Rs 30 billion to the EPF alone.
This was not consistently the case with the NAC. In its heyday in the 1980s, it was an arch airline in the region. Equipped with 19 aircraft absolute an admirable arrangement of twin-otters and Boeing 727s and 757s, the RNAC was aerial high, confined 38 calm and over a dozen all-embracing destinations. It could avowal of actuality envied by airlines in the region.
By 1989, cartage acclimated to fly the RNAC to above cities in India like Delhi, Kolkata, Patna, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Added all-embracing destinations included Singapore, Bangkok, Dhaka, Karachi, Colombo, Dubai, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Osaka, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Fast clue to today and the NAC's accepted cachet resembles added of an aerodynamics afterthought. The agile for the airline has alone bottomward to an amusing four planes that fly internationally and aloof two domestically. Of the all-embracing aircraft, two are wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft. And here's the kicker:
One of them has been abandoned in Italy for over two months now, not on any Italian sightseeing stop-over, but rather activity through an amaranthine C-check! Your ability gets the activity that it went on some array of European vacation as adjoin to actuality on an aliment stop. NAC admiral is adage that this aircraft will anon be brought back from Italy, but it would be astute to accept it alone already it absolutely happens.
The added wide-body aircraft afresh abutting its analogue in Italy for a connected stay. It’s as if it has kept Italy as its abiding abode and is sitting over their adequate pasta and gelato instead of flying! Alone Lord Pashupatinath knows aback these planes will arise aback home! Also, out of the two twin-otters meant for calm flights, one is ashore while the added does not generally fly because it needs to be repaired!
That's not all. En-route to Hong Kong, one of the two narrow-body aircraft, Sagarmatha, of the NAC was appointed to barrel 156 cartages on August 27, 2024. Getting a little advanced of itself like it consistently does, the alike alleged off the flight at the eleventh hour.
While cartage accolade for brilliant hotels as their adaptation in Kathmandu, the advantageous few in Hong Kong had to buck an agnate fate! Some of them, for whom business was added urgent, had their luck rerouted on added airlines, but the rest? Well, they got a VIP acquaintance in Hong Kong's finest hotels because of the NAC's "unique" way of accomplishing things!
What was the account of this mayhem? Negligence over repairs! Apparently, some bargain bazaar cement had been acclimated to adjustment the hydraulic arrangement of the aircraft. Yes, you heard it right-cheap glue! It is as if the airline's access arise aliment was "if it sticks, it flies!" Apparently, "Happy passengers, outstanding service", the accepted by word of the NAC, is what they are alive towards, instead of what it absolutely is. Realistically, the NAC byword can actual calmly be "Surprise! You're not activity anywhere!"
Flights accept been aborted abundant times, sometimes due to the non-availability of pilots and sometimes due to the abridgement of additional tires! Sometimes cartage is asked to alight account afore takeoff. As the airline has bootless to chase its flight schedule, not alone all-embracing but calm cartage additionally accept amorphous to lose assurance in it. In 2023, Nepal’s calm airlines agitated added than 4.1 actor people. Of this figure, alone about 13,000 cartages were handled by the NAC!
The civic banderole carrier's agile of aircraft, which should accept been confined the skies, has remained durably on the arena - an agglomeration of acerbic relics! Brought in from China, bristles aircraft meant for calm casework accept been admiring in NAC's aerodrome for four years.
Attempts to bargain them off accept collapsed on deafened ears, and it would arise cipher wants to buy what is basically a graveyard of planes that accept hardly flown. One would ask what led the NAC to annex these Chinese aircraft - oh, maybe a bearded attack to aggrandize their accumulating of aerodynamics antiques!
Hardly anyone disagrees that political interference, mismanagement, and bribery accept pushed the civic banderole carrier into its apologetic accompaniment today, abnormally afterwards the political change of 1990. The advantageous airline has become an anchorage for corruption, cronyism, and bribery with the multi-party arrangement aback in force afterwards the apology of commercialism in 1990. Politicians baffle consistently with its administration for kickbacks and patronage.
In fact, the history of the NAC is abounding with bribery scams, the latest actuality the 'Wide-body Scam'. The Agency for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has prosecuted 32 bodies – 24 Nepalis including a minister, secretaries and high-level NAC officials, and eight foreigners – accusing them of embezzling Rs 1.5 billion while accretion two wide-body aircraft for the airline. The rumor mills buzz that alike high-profile abstracts such as the accepted Prime Abbot KP Oli and above prime abbot Sher Bahadur Deeba accept their names affiliated to these shenanigans!
The NAC has added than its fair allotment of bribery scandals. Take, for instance, the Dhamija Betray of the aboriginal 1990s, which sounds like it was plucked from some high-stakes break-in film.
Cue Dinesh Dhamija, a British-Indian businessman, a bland anchorperson who could advertise ice to an Eskimo! Dhamija was as abutting as an adapted cuff to the again prime abbot Girija Prasad Koirala and was after appointed the accepted sales abettor for the NAC's European operations.
But about as attenuate as an accord that packs the bite of a sledgehammer to the face! The consecration of Dhamija was declared to be a cardinal achievement but accepted to be a PR disaster. The aspersion attenuated not aloof the airline's angel but additionally brought alternating an affectionate of bribery and cronyism that would accomplish alike an acclimatized political accessible blush.
Dhamija, who eventually came out arrive from a cloister activity adjoin the NAC, emerged as an attribute of how accomplice commercialism can about-face alike the best banal business transaction into an admirable comedy of corruption!
Then there was the Chase Air Betray of 1997 aback the NAC reportedly absent USD 783,750 on an apparition Boeing 757. The aircraft never materialized, abundant like the conjuror's assistant, and the money disappeared, acutely active abroad by some array of conjuration of hand. It was the banking vanishing ambush of all time, with bodies abrading their active larboard at their wit's end as to how such an ample sum of money could abandon into the wind!
Although the CIAA, in the after-effects of the scandal, recommended that all leases be conducted through a breakable system, in 1999 addition case of clandestine accord in leasing an aircraft from China by the again UML baton and civilian aerodynamics abbot Bhim Rawal came to light, accepted as the South China West scam. Though the Public Accounts Board (PAC) of assembly recommended activity adjoin Rawal, he was never booked.
But arguably the best abominable aspersion was the Lauda Air betray that saw Koirala abandon as PM. In 2001, the Koirala-led government had busied a 12-year-old Boeing 767 from the Austria-based Lauda Air on claimed negotiation, adverse to the charge issued by the PAC.
The government affected the axial coffer to absolution USD 1 actor as a beforehand acquittal to Lauda Air after acceptance from Austria. Media letters at that time had declared that the aerial hours would crop USD 400 as commission, per hour, to the airline officials, government bureaucrats and political figures, accretion Rs 160 actor for the charter axon of 18 months. This arrangement agitated all the connotations of a back-alley transaction, which amount about Rs 335 actor in losses.
The amateurishness of what the government has done so far to break the problems of the NAC is reflected in the carrier’s accepted accompaniment and has been as able as accustomed baptize in a sieve. With the change of every civilian aerodynamics minister, a new board is set up to acquisition solutions for this airline's abundant problems.
Nine such committees and assignment armament accept accustomed recommendations, anniversary added auspicious than the antecedent one. Yet, admitting these efforts, the NAC has connected its bottomward spiral, testifying to the inefficacy of authoritative duke wringing.
In short, the adventure of NAC epitomizes such an accomplished alloy of political intervention, bribery and bribery to which it additionally acquired a fair accord of raw bad luck. What this means, in added words, is an adventure that can able-bodied be acclimated to actualize some array of blood-tingling ball alternation but which, alas, turns out to be altogether far from afterpiece to absolute activity than fiction! This airline activity from actuality a bounded baton to a cautionary account should angle as an admonition of what happens aback political arrest meets poor management!
And yet, admitting several inquiries and committees that accept attempted to untangle the mess, the NAC's problems abide incessant - like some affectionate of bad soap opera that does not arise to accept an end. A new board emerges with abundant alarum and aerial promises alone to about-face out as able as an awning aperture on a submarine! Therein, recommendations accumulation up, but like the baffling mysteries of Agatha Christie, the airline about continues to collapse advisedly into adverse depths.
So, here's to the Nepal Airlines - may you one day acceleration from the ashes of your self-inflicted misfortunes, and may your planes eventually bethink their primary function: flying. Till then, may Lord Pashupatinath admission you the phenomenon you so badly need, or at atomic an appropriate set of activity aircraft!
