China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) on Thursday formally handed over one of two Modern Ark 60 (MA60) aircraft to the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC).

The 56-seater turboprop-powered airliner was handed over to NAC Managing Director Madan Kharel by AVIC Vice-president Subo amid a function in Xi’an, China. “The MA60 aircraft will arrive in Kathmandu on April 26,” said NAC Spokesperson Ram Hari Sharma. 

NAC will receive six Chinese-made aircraft (two MA60 and four Y12e manufactured by Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corpor-ation) later this year. Two of the planes are gifts from China.

The fleet-less NAC will be receiving one of the four Y12e aircraft on June 30 and the rest by September 30. 

The MA60 aircraft is made by China’s Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation under the AVIC International Holding Corporation. Unnerved by two crashes in less than a year, the national flag carrier hopes to revive its domestic operations 

with a revamped fleet after its Chinese-made aircraft on order are delivered. 

NAC, which is often blamed for management fiascos and habitual flight cancellations and delays, will be enhancing its ancient and tiny fleet by acquiring six new aircraft after more than two and a half decades. 

The MA60 will be used on its Biratnagar, Pokhara, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Bhadrapur routes. The smaller Y12e will operate on remote sectors, including a number of tourist destinations. Experts said that bin Y-12e is an alternative to the Twin Otter. With the planned deliveries, the flag carrier’s domestic fleet will increase to almost nine from the current one vintage Twin Otter. During its heyday, NAC used to operate 18 aircraft-12 Twin Otters, three Avros and three Pilatus Porters-to 42 stations across the country. 

Between 1972 and 1979, the Canadian International Develo-pment Agency donated seven Twin Otters to NAC. The Canadian-built Twin Otter, a 19-passenger aircraft with STOL capability and a high rate of climb, was the most suitable aircraft for serving Nepal’s remote and mountainous regions; but there were very few reconditioned planes for sale in the world market. Nepal Airlines flew 20,591 passengers, a drop of 44.15 percent in 2013.