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Kathmandu, Dec 12: Nepal Airlines Corporation is caught in a serious mess involving the repair of two engines from its Airbus narrow-body aircraft, Lumbini. The case shows how senior officials can drain a public institution for personal gain. One engine has been sitting in Israel for eight months, despite the repair being completed. Instead of bringing it back, the corporation has kept the aircraft flying with a rented engine, which costs about Rs 800,000 a day.

The agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) said each engine had to be repaired within 67 days. Since the same firm handled both engines, the full job should have finished in about 4.5 months. Instead, more than 810 days have passed.

The left engine was sent to Israel on 17 September 2023 after an inspection showed material loss. The corporation had already signed a contract with IAI on 31 August 2023 for engine repair and rental. IAI provided a leased engine, allowing the aircraft to return to Kathmandu 10 days later. Soon after, the right engine also developed the same issue. The firm could not provide a second rental engine, forcing Lumbini to remain grounded for 149 days.

IAI later said the delay resulted from the Israel Gaza war and slow delivery of fan blades from the manufacturer. Even so, the first engine took 6 months to complete. Its estimated repair cost was USD 4.9 million, and the corporation opened a letter of credit on that basis. But IAI sent a final bill of USD 7,778,337.

The rental arrangement added further pressure. The corporation had to pay USD 2,000 a day, plus extra charges per flight hour and flight cycle. With the aircraft usually flying 4 cycles a day, the average cost reached about USD 5,360 daily. IAI says the corporation has not paid rent since May 2024, leaving about USD 3,500,000 unpaid.

For the second engine, IAI estimated USD 8,000,000 for repair. The aircraft reached Israel on 11 January 2024. The corporation opened a letter of credit for USD 6,700,000. The job was supposed to finish in 67 days, but IAI informed Nepal only in May 2025 that it was complete, more than 16 months later. The company again blamed the delayed fan blade supply.

People’s News Monitoring Service