The government is negotiating with the Chinese aircraft manufacturer, Xi'an Aircraft Industry Group Co, for a buy-two-get-one-free deal to supply two twin engine turboprops for Royal Nepal Airlines. The Royal Nepali Army will get one of the planes for free.

The aircraft is a 56-seater derivative of the original Soviet Antonov An-24 and has upgraded Pratt & Whitney engines and Rockwell avionics. At $11 million apiece it has been exported to Zimbabwe, Fiji, Eritrea and Congo. Although not very popular among pilots, airlines find the aircraft cheap and useful for rough airfields.

Sources at Royal Nepal Airlines aren't too happy with the new aircraft and say they would have preferred more modern turboprops like ATR-72s or SAAB 340 which have a proven record of service on domestic routes like Pokhara, Biratnagar, Bhairawa and Nepalganj. "It's the government deciding, and it looks like they can't resist getting one free plane for the army," one airline official told us. The MA60 doesn't yet have UK or US FAA certification and has been decommissioned from service by China's own Wuhan Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.