Kathmandu, Apr.11: The government will launch investigation on why Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) directly renewed the aircraft lease deal with China South West Airlines (CSWA) earlier last month ignoring the official instruction to lease an aircraft only through global tender, Tarini Datta Chataut, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation said at a press meet in his ministry today.

“We will investigate why did RNAC not follow the government’s instructions,” he said. “If only RNAC had taken timely actions, there would have been no problem.”

In a press release today, the Ministry has claimed that RNAC’s March 19 aircraft lease agreement with CSWA last month has created a complication. “According to the agreement, if RNAC does not begin the operation of the leased Boeing 757 from March 28, 2000 and if it does not pay US $ 200,000 to the Chinese company within 10 days after the agreement, the national flag carrier will have to pay US $ 50,000 as penalty to CSWA.”

Said Chataut, “We have the compulsion to agree with RNAC board’s decision to fly in the CSWA Boeing given the dire need of aircraft to press in RNAC’s routes. But at the same time, we take serious reservation on the way RNAC has decided to lease the aircraft.”

As the lease period of the earlier leased Boeing 757 of CSWA was coming to an end (March 27), RNAC bosses last month flew to China and under a new contract renewed the lease period of the same aircraft for three months.

Earlier, the national flag carrier had sought permission from MoTCA to lease a Boeing 767-300 ER under Aircraft, Maintenance and Insurance basis. Then, the Ministry, citing the written instructions of the Cabinet Secretariat, had instructed RNAC to select pre-qualified companies under global tender issuing 35-day notice.

“Following the ministry’s instruction, RNAC wrote a letter to the ministry claiming that the global tender could not be completed and that it had to go for re-tendering. Since the process would take time, it said that it was going to renew the lease period of the leased Boeing 757 of CSWA for three months,” the press release stated. “Three days after the it received the letter, the ministry instructed RNAC to stick to the global tender process.”

Despite the instruction, read the press statement, RNAC has been found of not following the course it should have.

In yet another confronting move, MoTCA has denied RNAC’s request to waive off the sealed tender requirement to lease an aircraft for three weeks later this month when one of its Boeing two 757s will leave for C-check. “The ministry wrote a letter to RNAC denying its request,” read the press statement.

Responding to reporters’ queries, Chataut said that the Nepal-India talk on the resumption of Indian Airlines flights will take place very soon. “During the last talk there was no discussion on deploying Indian security personnel at TIA.”

In a bid to improve its facilities and to ensure safety of the incoming and outgoing flights, Tribhuvan International Airport has already introduced facilities like security binding on luggage, computerised security pass system, fully sterile passenger hold area, read the press statement. “To add security screening of passenger luggage, a secondary x-ray screening will also be added at the airport.”