By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Dec. 15: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai has directed the leadership of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) to strictly adhere to good governance and leakage control.
Receiving the 10-year integrated business plan prepared by the corporation on Monday, Minister Bhattarai said that the government would provide concessions to the corporation as it was the national flag carrier if there was good governance and leakage control in the corporation, according to a press note issued by the secretariat of Minister Bhattarai.
Stating that the 10-year integrated business plan had paved the way for the corporation to proceed ahead, he said that the corporation, which is currently in loss, should be made commercially successful.
On the occasion, general manager of the corporation Dim Prakash Poudel briefed about the business plan prepared for the period of 2021 to 2030.
According to the plan, the corporation will be at loss for the first three years, but it has projected a profit in 2024 and a profit of Rs 5.30 billion by 2030.
The action plan has projected that the corporation’s expenditure for the year 2021 would be Rs. 23.76 billion and it would increase by 9 per cent every year.
According to the plan, eight new destinations, including Sydney, Colombo, Shanghai, Indonesia and Riyadh will be added for international flights from 2024 to make the desired profit.
Similarly, for the improvement of domestic flights, Kathmandu, Nepalgunj, Pokhara and Biratnagar would be made the main bases of flights to the hilly areas, the report said.
Poudel said that the business plan was prepared on the basis of the 15th Five Year Plan of the Government of Nepal, Government Policies and Programmes, Aviation Policy 2063, report of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, recommendations of the Reform Suggestions Committee and review of business plans prepared in the past.
In the plan report, the financial condition of the corporation, market analysis, the impact of COVID-19 on the corporation, expectations from the Government of Nepal and other issues are mentioned in a detail.