Nepc Finalising Lease Deal For Three Aircraft With Airbus

NEPC Airlines is finalising a three Airbus A310 aircraft lease deal with Airbus Lease Finance (ALF) worth $200 million. The aircraft will be deployed on the airlines proposed international operations from Nepal.

Sources said NEPC director Tirupathi Khemka along with an airline team was in Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France last week to work out the choice of aircraft and the modalities of financing them.

The choice was narrowed down to A310-200 aircraft manufactured in 1984 to be taken on five year lease. NEPC will have to pay an up-front amount besides a monthly rental of around $ 400,000 per aircraft. However, the financial terms are yet to be made clear. A deal would be signed after that, the sources said.

 

NEPC has already obtained approval from the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) to import the 185 seater A310 planes. It is the first airline to be granted permission to import aircraft larger than 125 seaters. Along with Jet Airways, NEPC has started a new trend of directly negotiating with airplane manufacturers to procure planes. Jet is talking to Boeing to import 737-500 planes.

NEPC has tied up with Nepalese group Gyan Enterprises and sought Nepal government approval to operate flights from Kathmandu to Doha, Brunei, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo. NEPC will hold an 80 per cent stake in the venture. The Nepal government has given an informal go-ahead pending the necessary approvals to make the new airline the second designate carrier after national carrier Royal Nepal Airlines.

The understanding between the Khemkas and Nepal is that NEPC will operate only on those routes not presently flown by Royal Nepal Airlines. The official carrier is in short of aircraft as a result of which Nepal cannot utilise a substantial number of air routes under its bilateral air rights. Nepal is a popular tourist destination for inbound traffic and a manpower export centre for outbound. As a result most important international airlines operate flights from Kathmandu.