E-Kantipur

Two decades ago, the open-sky policy for aviation businesses was implemented, which created a welcome change in the air transport services of the country. During this period, many airlines came into existence, thereby breaking the monopoly of RNAC, the state owned airlines.

Numerous private airlines such as Nepal Airways, Everest Air, Necon Air, Garud Air, Lumbini Airways, Flight Care, Mountain Air, Manokamna Air, Asian Airlines, Karnali Air, Shangri-La Air, Skyline Airways and Cosmic Air were in existence for only a short time, most unable to survive beyond five years of operation. Several external factors were responsible for their failure but the most common factor in en masse failures was the involvement of unprofessional employees at top management levels, organisations planned and based on short-term profits without any long-term plan, and lack of sufficient financial support. The untimely closure of all these domestic airlines has resulted in huge financial losses for the promoters and left hundreds of experienced crews, engineers, marketing, sales, finance and administrative aviation staff unemployed. The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) should equally share responsibility for the failures of so many private airlines within such a short span of time, which may have resulted due to improper monitoring and lack of proper control mechanisms.

The hard lessons learnt from the failures and untimely closures of Lumbini, Skyline and Air Lungta, in which this scribe was involved, gave rise to the idea of reviving fixed wing single engine (FWSE) aircraft operation in remote domestic routes of Nepal. The need was more acute due to the shortage of STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) capable aircrafts such as Twin Otter and Dornier that are suitable for Nepali terrain. The low investment required for such single engine aircrafts with equally low operating costs in comparison to the multi-engine aircraft should attract many promoters and investors. The FWSE aircraft operation is very similar to the popular concept of Low Cost Carrier (LCC) airlines where low airfare and prompt service is possible. The concept and philosophy of LCC airlines is to have the lowest revenue per passenger, the lowest operating cost and the highest margin of profit by providing professional and efficient management supported services. To achieve these, the airline must reduce and cut costs in all departments — flight operation, engineering, marketing, sales and administration. Many airlines that failed made the blunder of inducting costly and different types of aircraft in its fleet. Necon had Avro and inducted ATR; Skyline had Twin Otter and inducted Dornier; and Nepal Airways had different types of aircraft in its fleet which led to high operating costs and their imminent demise. Airlines should deploy a single family of aircrafts or the same type of aircraft to avoid the high costs of crew training, spare parts stock and maintenance. Choice and selection of aircraft in the fleet is a crucial decision which must be made considering various factors. The success story of Buddha is a glaring example of proper choice of aircraft - Beechcraft for specific markets (mountain flights) and ATR to supplement each other with professional management.

FWSE airline operation was initiated taking all these variables into consideration. The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation took a bold and timely step by revising its policy and thus, after almost a decade, single engine aircrafts were allowed to operate in the Nepali sky. I, then the Executive Director of Air Kasthmandap, initiated the first airline to be provided with a FWSE aircraft licence for air-taxi and charter flights. We re-introduced the Swiss-made aircraft Pilatus Porter in Nepal. Hemant Arjyal’s article in the Post (“All credit to laughing hyena,” Sept. 8, 2009) is an interesting read on this subject.

Two units of the Pilatus Porter are now in Nepal. For the first time, we inducted the New Zealand manufactured, single engine aircraft PAC750XL into the fleet of Air Kasthamandap after taking detailed inspection and test flight in the STOL fields of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Air Kasthamandap now has three units of this aircraft in operation.

The door is now wide open and several operators (around six) have acquired the licence for FWSE aircraft. A new FWSE airline, Makalu Air, is in the process of acquiring the popular Cessna Caravan aircraft and, similarly, some other airlines, like Unity Airline, are also entering the market.

The new start up airlines must identify and create their own passenger traffic by creating new unexplored routes and targeting specific customers and markets. There are many unused airstrips and land that can be easily turned into STOL airports with the help of the local community. The present Minister of Tourism, Sharat Singh Bhandari, is open to new ideas and has agreed to permit some FWSE aircrafts to use the lakes such as Rara and Phoksumdo to land aircrafts using floats, a technique that has been popular in the West for many years. Nepal Tourism Year 2011 should be taken as an opportunity for the implementation of all new ideas to reap benefits by creating a totally new and unique market. MoTCA and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) should see to it that the FWSE operations directly benefit the common man by providing affordable airfares and cargo rates from the LCC mode of operation. The government should provide all the necessary support and facilitate the smooth operation of such airlines without compromising safety measures.

(Sherpa is Director, Nepal National Aviation Council and former Executive Director of Air Kasthamandap)

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