Nepal Airlines (RA, Kathmandu) has been forced to scrub plans to wet-lease an A319-100 from Bhutan Airlines (B3, Paro) after the aircraft proffered in a Request For Proposals (RFP) was found to exceed the contract's maximum stipulated age of fifteen (15) years.
According to the Kathmandu Post, during the technical assessment phase of tender, the airline's board found the Bhutanese carrier's two A319-100s - A5-BAB (msn 1541) and A5-BAC (msn 1551) - to be sixteen years of age and are thus ineligible for the contract.
The only other contender for the contract, which runs for a period of forty-five (45) days, extendable to sixty (60), effective July 16, 2017, was an unspecified A320 Family aircraft put forward by UK-based aircraft brokerage firm, 12 Stars Aviation. However, that too was found to be ineligible for the contract.
Given the looming need to withdraw its only remaining B757-200 for maintenance, Nepal Airlines' board will shortly convene to try find a stop-gap solution.
