SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHAMNDU, DEC 13 - The parliament’s International Relation and Human Rights Committee on Sunday directed the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) to revoke its decision of awarding the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector to Sharjah-based Air Arabia under the fifth freedom rights. With this decision, Air Arabia’s plan to start the Sharjah-Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector has suffered a setback.
The committee’s decision comes amid pressure from Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) and lawmakers.
MoTCA on Dec. 2 had allowed Air Arabia to operate six flights per week in the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector under the fifth freedom rights. The fifth freedom rights allow an airline to carry passengers from its own country to another country through a third country.
NAC Act-1962 has provisioned that the government should get the consent of the NAC before finalising, renewing and amending Air Service Agreement (ASA) with any country, said the committee.
“We came to the conclusion that the ministry violated the act by allowing Air Arabia to operate the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur flights under the fifth freedom rights without the consent of NAC,” said Padma Lal Bishwokarma, chairman of the committee.
The Committee also directed the ministry to amend the existing ASA to safeguard the country’s interests. “The ASA should be amended to ensure that the government of Nepal has its own reservation rights on any lucrative air points
that are not transferable to other country’s airlines under the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights,” said the committee. It also directed the ministry to find other alternative measures to resolve the issue.
The issue of Air Arabia started after UAE’s Department of Civil Aviation wrote a letter on Sept. 28 to the MoTCA seeking its consent to give Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur- Kathmandu sector to Air Arabia under the fifth freedom rights. UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (CAAN) forwarded a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal on the same issue on Nov. 23. MoTCA made the decision to grant this route to Air Arabia on Dec. 2.
However, the NAC opposed the ministry’s decision saying it would hurt its business in the most lucrative sector. The Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur sector has emerged as the one of the most lucrative sectors for NAC over the last two years. NAC earns Rs. 8 million from a single flight, thanks largely to Nepali migrant workers.
With the continuous surge in the number of Malaysia-bound migrant workers, the NAC doesn’t want to share this sector with other airlines. Air Arabia had also targeted migrant worker passengers.
Air Arabia was set to start service in this sector from Dec. 16. The airline had begun selling tickets through its two official agents in Kathmandu.
Despite the committee’s decision, the ministry and the CAAN are adamant that they have not done anything wrong. They had claimed that their decision was based on the weak performance of NAC that currently has only one Boeing.
According to the ministry, the decision was taken considering the lack of sufficient flights in this sector. The ministry was of the view that allowing Air Arabia in this route would bring in more tourists during Nepal Tourism Year-2011.
Tourism Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari defended the ministry’s decision in the committee’s meeting on Sunday.
“We took this decision to better air connectivity between Nepal and Malaysia considering the NAC’s present status and Nepal Tourism Year 2011,” said Bhandari. He added that if Air Arabia is not allowed the permission under the fifth freedom rights, it would be a violation of ASA.
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