 |
Kathmandu Thursday September 27, 2001 Ashwin 11, 2058.
|
RNAC air routes
The other day officials of the national flag carrier —
Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) — vehemently resisted the government’s
move to open regional air routes to Nepal’s private airlines. RNAC management does
not seem to want these routes to slip out of its hands. But the state-run corporation has
been on the brink of collapse as a result of political interference and corruption.
Previously, RNAC had half a dozen jet aircraft working on its regional and international
routes. However, successive governments have reduced these many aircraft to just two only.
As a result of this and the fact that it did not have wide bodied jets, it has been unable
to continue its services to Europe. Certainly, RNAC will not be able to resume its
European operations so long as it remains a state-run corporation that cannot make key
decisions on its own and that successive administrations milk like a cash cow. We have had
more than an inkling of how such milking works after the Lauda and China South West
scandals broke. Until RNAC sees better days and spread its wings westward again, it will
remain desperately dependent on the regional routes that the government is now
contemplating throwing open to private competition. That it has chosen to challenge the
government’s decision on a technicality (it was not consulted on time as per the RNAC
Act) is a measure of its desperation.
Against this backdrop, it may be useful to weigh the
government’s move on its merits. The government has short-listed three private sector
airlines for taking up the regional routes that RNAC now has a monopoly over. RNAC
management seems to fear that private competition may push the ailing state airline from
bad to worse. RNAC has been providing a poor service all along. Scheduled flights are
plagued by delays and cancellations. Passengers have often expressed their frustrations
through local newspapers. And tourists who visit this country have refused to use shoddy
RNAC service. Poor management at RNAC is too obvious to be ignored. The government began
opening up the market to the private sector after the restoration of democracy. There have
been a dozen domestic airlines operating in the private sector since then. Half of them
have acquired licenses for regional routes. Though not free from snags and glitches, the
private sector civil aviation in Nepal has on the whole been a success story, in stark
contrast to the national flag carrier. RNAC has just not been able to grow up with the
times. Given this bad record and the political meddling there is no option but to open
regional routes to the private sector if the exigencies of the tourism industry are to be
met. That industry has hit an all time low and the government has to try and revive it. To
do this, it must join hands with private airlines which have to be more commercially than
politically responsive and provide a competent service just to remain in business.
Other Stories
|
