Nepal Airlines (RA, Kathmandu) has agreed to take delivery of four additional Chinese aircraft including more MA-60s and Y12s but only if manufacturer AVIC is willing to agree to certain conditions, the Kathmandu Post is reporting.
Nepal Airlines currently operates a single MA-60 and a single Y12E on domestic flights, but says it can only operate the two aircraft with payload restrictions. The Nepali national carrier is demanding for compensation from AVIC for the operations in Nepal with payload restrictions as a result of its unsuitability for flights in the country. According to a report by a government commission looking into the matter, on average, the MA-60 has only been operated on eight weekly flights while the Y12E has been grounded for more than months already because of a pilot shortage and "regulatory restrictions" for Nepal Airlines to use the aircraft for flights to mountain airports in Nepal.
Additional conditions set by Nepal Airlines include provision of spare parts and maintenance support for 10 years, reduced crew training costs to be similar to the DHC-6-300 it already operates, assistance to get insurance premium costs to similar levels as for Western built aircraft and the provision of manuals in English language as well as English speaking AVIC pilots and engineers.
A controversial government level deal for the delivery of the Chinese aircraft has been signed in 2013, but only the two aircraft have been delivered so far because of the difficulties encountered by the airline.
