Newly-appointed Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Lokendra Bista Magar on Tuesday informed that Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), the ailing national flag-carrier, is planning to purchase a fleet of five aircraft over next few years.

Speaking at an interaction organised in the capital this afternoon, Minister Magar said that NAC plans to acquire the five planes through a Cabinet decision soon.

He also informed that talks with the representatives of aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus are on and that a team of NAC technicians have also left for China to study whether China manufactured airplanes are suitable for Nepalese conditions.

“The decision to purchase aircraft will be taken after the technical team returns from China,” he said, adding that the country needs more airplanes and he will purchase at least 5 planes for the country without creating any controversy.

Due to concerns about its management, NAC had a year ago failed to secure a USD 134-million loan guarantee from the Ministry of Finance to purchase two aircraft from the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

NAC, which was formerly called RNAC, had acquired two Boeing 757 — Karnali in 1987 and Gandaki in 1988.  But after people’s movement in 1990, successive governments of Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (UML) had leased aircraft from Lauda Airlines and China South Western Airlines. nepalnews.com