Kathmandu, March 8

An Airbus A-320 aircraft of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), which had been flown from Kathmandu to Dubai by two female pilots, returned to Tribhuvan International Airport today morning, to coincide with the 113th International Women's Day.

The the RA-230 flight had flown to Dubai on Saturday, marking Nepal's first international flight with all-female crew, as per a media release.

Commander Pilot Bhawana Giri Pant, Co-Pilot Srijana Rawat, IFS Basna Rana, Flight Purser Anjak Maharjan, and Air Hostesses Sangeeta KC and Anisha Prajapati were on the flight.

The crew members were welcomed at the TIA today by Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati and Executive Chairman of NAC Ubaraj Adhikari.

Minister Kirati remarked that the presence of female crew members is not merely a coincidence, but rather a testament to the fact that women are capable of achieving great things when given the opportunity.

Minister Kirati conveyed his appreciation to the female crew members through social media highlighting their historic achievement of successfully flying Nepal's national flag carrier on the Nepal-Dubai and Dubai-Nepal routes. He also took the opportunity to extend his warm wishes to women worldwide on the occasion of the 113th International Women's Day.

According to NAC, there are nine female pilots employed by the corporation. Out of them, one is the A330 pilot, four pilot A320 aircraft, and four are handling the domestic flights.

Additionally, out of 145 cabin crew members employed by the corporation, 96 are female.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 9, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.