Gifted Chinese plane to land in April 21

China has handed over an aircraft as a gift to Nepal as per an agreement signed between the two countries late last year. Amidst a function held in Xian on Thursday, China gave away an MA-60 aircraft to Nepal. The 58-seater aircraft is expected to land in Kathmandu on April 25. Madan Kharel, General Manager of Nepal Airlines, was in Xian, where the aircraft was manufactured by AVIC International, on Thursday. Kharel said that the aircraft will be used for commercial purpose from the last week of April. On November 28, 2013, Nepal and China had entered into an agreement, as per which China is to provide Rs 6.671 billion to Nepal – a grant of Rs 2.943 billion and a concessional loan of Rs 3.728 billion. The MA-60 airport, which was handed over to Nepal on Thursday, is a gift as part of the Rs 2.943 billion grant. Under the same grant, China will provide another aircraft (19 seater) to Nepal. The 19-seater aircraft is expected to be handed over to Nepal in June, 2014. Similarly, with the Rs 3.728 billion concessional loan, Nepal is in the process of buying more Chinese aircrafts – three 19-seaters and one 58-seaters. According to Mahesh Maskey, Nepal´s ambassador to China, AVIC International´s Vice President Xu Bo has promised that they will deliver the 58-seat aircraft by September and three 19-seater aircrafts by October, 2014. The Chinese aircrafts will be flown to Nepal by Chinese pilots themselves. Chinese pilots will fly the Chinese aircrafts before handing them over to the Nepal Airlines. China is also organizing training programs for the Nepali pilots and technicians to man the Chinese aircrafts. source: republica