Nepc Plan To Take Off From Nepal Raises Eyebrows

NEPC Airlines' plan to begin international operations from Kathmandu has the travel industry foxed: It is seeking general sales agents (GSAs) barely a fortnight ahead of the April 25 launch date without even providing details of schedules and frequency of flights.

Kathmandu-based Nepal NEPC Ltd has issued advertisements for GSAs at leading international destinations like New York, London, Paris, Lahore, Singapore, Dubai and Tokyo besides Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay and Varanasi.

If they are flying from April 25, they should have finalised the foreign destinations and informed the trade about it. Indeed, bookings should have started now rather than selection of GSAs, international travel industry sources said.

 

Officials at the carrier's Delhi office refused to provide details of the Nepal operations and referred all queries to the Chennai office.

Travel industry sources, too, said that they were unable to get details of schedules and frequencies. How would we be interested in becoming GSAs without knowing the details of the new operation, they said.

Unconfirmed reports said that NEPC has tied up with Gyan Enterprises of Nepal and has obtained the Nepalese government's approval to operate flights from Kathmandu to Doha, Brunei, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

NEPC has an 80 per cent stake in the venture. It is not known if the Nepalese government has given the go-ahead to make the new airline, Nepal NEPC Ltd, the second designate carrier after the national carrier, Royal Nepal Airlines.

The airline has a fleet of six Boeing 737-200 planes and is holding talks with lease finance subsidiary of Airbus Industrie for three Airbus A310 aircraft. However, industry sources said that the lease negotiations were at a preliminary stage and there was a lot of ground to be covered before the planes could form part of the Nepalese company's fleet.

The sources said that operating on international routes may not be possible with Boeing 737-200s as these are older generation planes and do not meet international norms on noise, emission and over-water flights. That is why, acquiring the A310s would be crucial for the new airline's operations.

The lease is said to be worth $200 million, with a monthly rental of approximately $400,000 per aircraft.

If the new airline gets off the ground, it may put an end to NEPC's troubles in the wake of taking over Damania Airways.