Old body, old problems

Pervasive mismanagement at NAC will ultimately lead to the organisation's downfall.

The Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has been beset by controversies since its early days. In the 1990s, the NAC appointed a controversial general sales agent for European operations. In the 1997 ‘ Chase Air scam ’, NAC paid a large sum ($783,750) from the corporation’s coffers and sent an advance payment to lease a Boeing 757 that never landed in Nepal. In 2001, the Girija Prasad Koirala-led government leased a 12-year-old Boeing 767 from the Austria-based Lauda Air on personal negotiation, contrary to a directive issued by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. In 2017, the procurement of two Airbus A330 jets, popularly known as the ‘ wide-body scandal ’, resulted in significant financial losses and convictions of several officials in 2024. Then, in early 2020, European aerospace company Airbus admitted that it paid 350,000 euros in bribes to Nepali officials.