Kathmandu: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has set up a new task force to draft a reform roadmap for Nepal Airlines Corporation, the country’s national flag carrier.
Led by joint secretary Mukesh Dangol, the five-member committee has been mandated to review past reform reports and recommend short-, medium-, and long-term measures.
Officials say the panel has been given a month to submit its findings, which are expected to guide the incoming government in pushing forward long-delayed restructuring efforts.
The committee, comprising ministry officials, including finance, legal, and air traffic experts, has been assigned broad terms of reference. It will assess earlier studies alongside the airline’s current condition, propose actionable reforms, examine whether staff postings and management practices align with service requirements, and evaluate hiring practices.
It will also review the state of online ticketing services and analyze recent data on passenger volumes and airfare competitiveness compared to other airlines operating on the same routes.
However, the move has drawn criticism, as successive ministers and secretaries at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation have commissioned numerous similar studies over the years, producing a stack of reports with little implementation.
Critics argue this latest committee risks becoming just another addition to that pile. Former board member Achyut Raj Pahadi says none of the previous recommendations has been executed, and views the new panel as more of a symbolic gesture, possibly aimed at demonstrating activity or aligning with the soon-to-be-formed government, rather than a genuine reform push.
Pahadi insists that what the airline urgently needs is capable leadership, particularly a strong managing director, rather than more studies. In his view, failure to appoint effective leadership while blaming the airline for underperformance amounts to little more than excuse-making. Aviation experts echo that sentiment, noting that more than a dozen reports have already been submitted by past committees, and that implementing even one of them could have driven meaningful change.
Adding to the controversy, the current tourism minister had previously led a reform study in his former role as a judge, with that report only made public last November. Observers are questioning why its recommendations have not been implemented, and why a new committee has been formed without even waiting for the transition to a new government, raising concerns about the seriousness and continuity of reform efforts in Nepal’s aviation sector.
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