The government has appointed Sushil Ghimire, a former tourism ministry secretary, as the executive chairman of Nepal Airlines Corporation.

The government’s decision to appoint an acting chief to lead the national flag carrier at a time when it has been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy goes against recommendations made by several committees formed to resuscitate the corporation.

"The decision shows how serious the government is about the national flag carrier," said a former Nepal Airlines director on the condition of anonymity. He also termed the decision “ad-hoc.”

Ghimire, who was appointed to the position by the Cabinet on Tuesday, succeeds Madan Kharel, who resigned in January.

The government normally appoints the executive chairman for a tenure of four years. But tourism minister Yogesh Bhattarai’s secretariat said in a statement that Ghimire will serve as acting chairman with full executive power until further notice.

The Post’s repeated attempts to speak with Bhattari and tourism ministry Secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari went unanswered. A joint secretary at the ministry, however, said that Ghimire was appointed to avoid a prolonged “vacuum” in the corporation’s leadership after Kharel’s resignation.

Ghimire’s appointment comes as various committees formed by the tourism ministry to suggest ways to resuscitate the carrier suggested that the executive chair be appointed through an open competition. The most recent of such committees, led by Ghimire himself, reiterated the same recommendation last September, along with an overhaul of the management. But almost none of the recommendations have been implemented.

In November 2018, the corporation said it was on the verge of bankruptcy, and asked the government for a bailout of Rs 20 billion, declaring itself crisis-ridden. This revelation came just four months after the airline made the biggest purchase in Nepal’s aviation history, acquiring two Airbus A330-200s for $209.6 million after procuring two narrow body A320s. The procurement deals have been riddled in controversy. Airbus in February admitted to paying at least 340,000 euros in bribes to Nepali businessmen and officials in order to secure contracts for two narrow-body Airbus A320 jets for the corporation. But officials are yet to investigate the matter.

The corporation has become highly leveraged with debt reaching critical levels at about Rs 37 billion.

The purchase of the new A330s, along with two other A320s, was meant to revitalise Nepal Airlines, but a lack of planning and a series of problems meant that the new aircraft were never operated in full capacity.