Ram Hari Sharma, spokesperson of NAC, said the national flag carrier decided to use Airbus 320 aircraft on Hong Kong sector after the Hong Kong government decided to ban aircraft that does not have Regulated Navigational Procedure (RNP-1) in its airspace. "As our Boeing 757 does not support RNP-1 procedure, we decided use our new aircraft for Hong Kong flights," he added.
According to Wikipedia, a navigation specification that includes a requirement for on-board navigation performance monitoring and alerting is referred to as an RNP specification. RNP also refers to the level of performance required for a specific procedure or a specific block of airspace.
The procedure has been in use in Hong Kong since January 1, 2013. However, Hong Kong government had initially allowed NAC to use its Boeing 757 after NAC told it that it does not have any alternative. Later, the deadline was extended till March-end as per NAC's request.
"Now that we have new aircraft (Airbus 320) that supports RNP-1 procedure, we have will be using it for Hong Kong flights. Boeing 757 will be used on other destination," said Sharma.
After the Hong Kong government introduced RNP-1 procedure, NAC had commissioned a study to determine the cost of installing RNP-1 in its aircraft. But the national flag carrier chose not to install RNP-1 after the study showed it would cost around Rs 30 million.
NAC operates three flights a week to Hong Kong on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It charges Rs 35,000 for one-way flight and Rs 58,000 for round trip.
Y12-E GROUNDED
Harbin Y12-E aircraft of NAC has remained grounded for the past two weeks.
One of the wheels of the Chinese aircraft, which has been named 'Koilee', was punctured while landing at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu two weeks ago. The aircraft has been grounded since then as NAC does not have the required spare part.
"The ring inside the tire was damaged in the incident. We have asked China to send the ring, but we are yet to take delivery of the ring," Sharma said, adding: "There is nothing we can do until we get delivery of the spare part."
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