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Kathmandu Tuesday October 09, 2001 Ashwin 23, 2058.
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Why Mandarin Airlines did not fly
By Damakant Jayshi
KATHMANDU, Oct 8 – A huge chunk of
Nepal’s foreign exchange earnings comes from tourism, particularly from tourists who
arrive by air and spend freely on goods and services in Kathmandu and elsewhere.
And yet, at a time when the industry needs a much
needed boost, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) last week unexpectedly
cancelled chartered air services from Taiwan which planned to do just that by flying in
more tourists to this Himalayan Kingdom. The reason cited for the decision:
"unavoidable circumstances".
Many eyebrows were raised when that happened last
week on the eve of the long-planned flight to Kathmandu by Mandarin Airlines, a subsidiary
of Taiwan’s national carrier China Airlines. The discussion at cocktail circuits
within the tourism circle, from five star hotel executives to restaurant managers to
travel and tour operators, all focussed on just what went wrong.
The immediate suspicion fell on officials of the
People’s Republic of China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province of mainland
China. The theory was that China had somehow pressured the government to bar the Taiwanese
airlines, and Nepal agreed since it does not - never has and never will - grant diplomatic
recognition to Taiwan.
But later, other information began to emerge that
pointed to some sinister hand high up in the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation and
Culture (MoCTCA). This information, rumours at best, said that the Taiwanese
carrier’s plans were stumped by "corrupt officials" within the Ministry who
had taken sides in the fight between several local agents representing Mandarin Airlines
in Nepal.
The issue was complex to begin with, but became
more complicated when The Kathmandu Post began to search for answers. In several meetings
with high officials of the Ministry, CAAN, as well as travel and tour operators connected
to Mandarin Airlines, it emerged that no one really knew – or did not want to share -
why the Ministry put its foot down at the 11th hour.
CAAN officials simply passed on the buck to MoCTCA
officials for ordering them to bar Mandarin’s flights, despite the fact that the
agreement between CAAN and Taiwanese Civil Aviation authorities to allow Mandarin to
operate to Nepal had been concluded in March this year. That was followed with the
issuance of the all-important Air Operator’s Certificate to Mandarin Airlines by
CAAN.
"We were not given any reason by the Ministry
for the decision. So we just wrote to Mandarin Airlines to hold their flight due to
‘unavoidable reasons’," Vinod Giri, the Deputy Director General at CAAN
told The Kathmandu Post.
On the other hand, Minister for Tourism, Civil
Aviation and Culture, Bal Bahadur K.C. even washed his hands off the whole affair. "I
am hearing about this for the first time," said K.C., when he was asked about it what
exactly scuttled Mandarin’s plans.
But other senior MoTCTA officials did give some
sketchy explanation. When asked to define "unavoidable circumstances", Yagya
Prasad Gautam, Joint Secretary at the Ministry, quipped, "The reason is just
‘unavoidable circumstances’. I can’t say further." Asked exactly who
had issued the orders, he merely said it was the government decision, without clarifying.
"Until another decision, the air service
cannot commence," said Subarna Lal Shrestha, the Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of
the Ministry. "A situation occurred and that’s why the flight had to be
cancelled."
On the surface, the story so far appears to be just
another lack of co-ordination between various government ministries, departments and
agencies which did not know what the others were doing – though in this case all the
players are within the same Ministry.
But it is now emerging, that was not the case. If
anything, it was indeed a highly co-ordinated effort by the government to keep the real
reasons of Mandarin’s cancellations under wraps.
After running around pillar-to-post for days, a
breakthrough finally emerged this week when high-ranking government officials, after
persistent questioning, finally admitted that it was indeed Chinese authorities who had
asked the government to halt Mandarin Airline’s flights to Nepal.
"Chinese authorities made it clear to us that
they did not want a Taiwanese carrier flying into Nepal," one of these top officials
said on condition of anonymity.
But hadn’t the agreement be signed in March?
Why did China wait for so long before it registered its complaints? "They said they
did not know about it then. They said they found out only when preparations for the
inaugural flight was well underway," he said. The immediate question is:
"why?" Knowledgeable sources speculate that given China’s sensitivity
towards Taiwan, the pressure it put on Nepal to halt the flights is not surprising.
Whatever the case, it does appear that the tourism
industry has been dealt a severe blow by the cancellation of Mandarin’s flights at
China’s behest. But officials hope that the setback would be temporary. They point
out that China would now be more inclined to put Nepal on its "outbound
destination" list to reward its small neighbour for helping to abort the plan of the
Taiwanese.
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