Kathmandu: In a setback for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), two out of its four aircraft designated for international flights have been grounded due to technical problems, causing disruptions for hundreds of passengers.
Ramesh Poudel, the spokesperson for NAC, explained that one of the affected aircraft, bearing registration number 9N-ALZ and belonging to the A330 series wide-body category, had to halt its flight to Doha due to issues with the flight control sensor.
Poudel stated, “The flight of this aircraft, which was supposed to fly to Doha, was stopped last night. We are making preparations to take the passengers to Doha on the flight at 7:45 PM today.”
Compounding the issue, a narrow-body aircraft from NAC had been sent to Israel for repairs. However, due to delays in making arrangements for this grounded aircraft, NAC’s international flight capacity has been reduced by two planes for over a month.
Poudel assured that repair work on the grounded aircraft from the previous night is ongoing, stating, “There is an effort to make it worthy of flying today. If that can be done, the scheduled flights will not be affected.” Currently, NAC has only one wide-body and one narrow-body aircraft in an airworthy condition.
The impact of the technical problems was felt particularly on the Doha flight, where 276 passengers, originally set to depart from Kathmandu, had to be accommodated in hotels overnight. Poudel confirmed that arrangements are in place for them to be flown today, contingent on the successful resolution of the technical issues affecting the aircraft. The airline is actively working to minimize disruptions and ensure the timely resumption of its international flight operations.