Raytheon to fly back two Beech aircraft

December 3, 2002
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By Satyendra Timilsina

KATHMANDU, Dec 3:The American based Raytheon Aircraft Company is to fly back its two Beech aircraft that are being operated by Necon Air Ltd. With this latest decision, Necon Air would be left with only two ATRs.

Sources at the aviation sector informed The Kathmandu Post that the decision to fly back the two Beech aircrafts to the manufacturer is keeping in line with the intentions of the manufacturer to deal only with one client.

With this, Buddha Air would be the only airline company to fly Raytheon aircrafts in Nepal, number of which currently stands at four.

The US based company wants to strengthen its only client and to avoid fierce competition among the domestic airlines, hence this decision, explained the source.

The Raytheon Company a month back had taken a similar decision and flown Mountain Air-owned Beech aircraft back. The company then had stated that Mountain Air was delaying payment of their dues.

Buddha Air had stepped in then and cleared the Rs nine million dues owed by Mountain Air to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, thereby easing the manufacturer to fly back the Beech aircraft. The second plane of the Mountain is still to take off as it is in need of some repairing.

Necon Air-owned Beech aircraft, which the Raytheon Company is readying to take back, were originally brought on lease by Shangri-la Air. However, Necon Air had been operating the planes for the past 18 months, on sub-lease from Shangri-la Air.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post Kishor Silwal, deputy general manager of Shangri-la Air, confirmed that the US company is flying back the aircraft. “An official of Raytheon Company talking over the telephone pointed out that leasing their aircraft to many companies did not prove a profitable venture and hence wants to deal with only one major party, ” he said.

There is no payment dispute nor any misunderstanding, said Silwal, adding “The company is withdrawing the deal in good faith and has assured that it would come back once the ailing tourism industry is back on the track.”

Mukunda Bhakta Shrestha, chairman of Necon Air, said, “The US company showed its unwillingness to continue with the deal and therefore we handed the plane back to Shangri-la Air.”

However, he added that the airline is preparing to add one more 50 seater ATR to its existing fleet to regularise the existing flights. Necon Air has announced a change in its flight schedules from Wednesday and these will continue till the new aircraft is purchased.

The airline, making adjustment with the remaining aircraft has published a new flight schedule while cancelling two and a half dozen lights per week. Regular domestic flights to almost all sectors have reduced their flights, ranging from one per day to a maximum decrease of three flights every day.

Likewise, the international flight to the Indian city of Patna, where the airline used to fly four times a week, has been temporarily withdrawn. Necon Air, established in 1992 is the only private sector airline operating international flights to India, one to Varanasi and another to Patna.