BY SANJAYA NEUPANE
KATHMANDU, Nov 20 - Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC), one of the loss-making public enterprises, has sellable tools and spare parts worth Rs 6.5 million, but it has not taken any step towards disposing them.
Some of the equipment were procured unnecessarily right from the beginning of purchasing planes and those equipment required during grounding of planes were also bought more than needed solely for commission, said a concerned official, requesting customary anonymity.
Except for the regular flight, if planes are grounded, the Engineering Department of the RNAC has the authority to purchase necessary equipment from any part of the world immediately.
"Misusing the authority, the department purchased unnecessary equipment and tools for the sake of commission and the stock of the equipment and tools piled up over the years," an official told The Kathmandu Post.
According to a report of the audit for the fiscal year 1999/2000 published recently, the corporation has a stock of unnecessary tools and spare parts worth Rs 6.5 million.
Such goods are bought paying dollars and the price of those goods may go up as the Nepali currency is depreciating against the dollars over the years. The official said that the practice of buying unwanted equipment still continues.
Mohan Khanal, General Manager of the Corporation, accepts that RNAC has a stock of such unwanted tools and spare parts. He said that the stock of such goods were piled up as the corporation could not implement the plan envisaged while purchasing two Boeings 757s about one and a half decades ago.
As per the plan, the third Boeing had to be bought in 1995. Besides, the equipment purchased for the over all repair of Boeing except for major check were not utilised. The corporation had planned that it would do all the repair works itself within five years of purchasing planes and necessary spare parts were also purchased at that time.
But the plan aborted as the financial condition of the corporation began worsening following the adoption of open sky policy. Its financial condition further deteriorated as the corporation sold its two Boeing 727s and began leasing aircraft.
The Boeings of the corporation were grounded frequently within three weeks and all the spare parts were bought from abroad.
According to Rakesh Koirala, chief of Engineering Department, they had one spare part, but could not send it to Shanghai and had to buy another.
Lack of human resource development in the past is one of the reasons of non-use of those tools and spare parts. "There are many tools and spare parts which have not been used yet and they are not usable in the present state," said a technician.
The corporation has two spare engines for the two Boeings, which according to concerned official are redundant. Though they are unwanted, they are not managed well. Both the spare engines are outside the country. Besides, there are such spare parts of other planes operating domestic flights as well.
There is practice among the international airlines to have spare engines jointly. And there is also a practice of borrowing such parts among the companies, say experts.
If RNAC signs agreements with airlines flying to Nepal or with any other regional airlines, grounded planes could be operated in shorter period. And it can be applied to domestic flight as well, but the Corporation has never tried it.
GM Khanal said that the airlines would make necessary study on the issue. Although the stock of spare parts is recorded up to 2000, the corporation has no exact record of such stock since then, he said. "We are serious about the management of the spare parts," he added.
Published in The Kathnandu Post on Nov 21, 2003
Link: http://www.nepalnews.com/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2003/nov/nov21/economy1.htm
