Nepal will acquire five more planes from China, after receiving a Y12 Chinese aircraft recently, easing the shortage faced by the national carrier, officials said on Sunday. China had recently provided an 18-seater Y12 aircraft to Nepal Airlines, said an official of the company.

The two governments had signed a deal for procuring four aircraft on cash and providing two aircraft on grant basis, said Ramhari Sharma, spokesperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC).

The Y12 which arrived here last month was gifted by China and another MA 60 aircraft will reach on June 30 under grant assistance, he said.

Besides these, four more aircraft will be arriving from China within four months. One MA60 aircraft will arrive in mid-September and three Y12s will arrive towards October end, he said.

Nepal Airlines, which is suffering from shortage of aircraft will be relieved with the arrival of these Chinese aircraft, which will operate in the domestic routes.

With the approval from the Ministry of Tourism, the NAC board has finalised the decision of acquiring five more aircrafts from China.

China’s Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation, manufacturer of MA60 aircraft, has recently sent two Chinese captains to train NAC’s pilots, according to airlines sources.

Although the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, (CIAA), the anti-graft body directed the airlines to start commercial flights on the Chinese aircraft from June 15, the airlines is not in a position to start the flight before the end of the June, due to some technical reasons, it is learnt.

As huge amounts of commission were involved in acquiring new aircraft by the NAC in the past, the national flag carrier has come under the scrutiny of the anti-graft body in connection with the deal to acquire the new aircraft.

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