Kathmandu, March 29

Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is set to operate its commercial flights at the Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) from May.

As per Jagnnath Niroula, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), NAC has been allocated two flight slots per week during the international summer schedule at GBIA, which will be in effect from March 26 to October 28.

'As per the summer schedule, the national flag carrier will be conducting the flights in the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur-Bhairahawa-Kathmandu route with 157-passenger capacity Airbus A320 narrow body,' Niroula told The Himalayan Times. 'Thus, there will be two weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to Bhairahawa, scheduled for Tuesdays and Saturdays.'

According to Archana Khadka, spokesperson for NAC, the airline is currently making preparations to commence scheduled flights from May.

'We are in the process of creating new seating arrangements to accommodate the new flights in the new sector which will take a bit of time,' Khadka stated.

Apart from Kuwaiti air carrier Jazeera Airways, no airline had shown any inclination to operate from the GBIA citing non-viability of business at the national pride project that had cost the exchequer over Rs 30 billion.

Niroula further stated that at present, Jazeera Airways is conducting three weekly flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from GBIA.

Additionally, other airlines, such as Himalaya Airlines, are also preparing to operate international flights from there.

Earlier, NAC had put on hold its plans to operate regular Delhi-Bhairahawa flights, which it was planning to operate from November 28.

NAC had suspended the scheduled Delhi-Bhairahawa flights as the national flag carrier had not received any response from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in India, the regulatory body of the Indian aviation sector.

After obtaining renewed approval from the Malaysian government, NAC has resumed operating five scheduled flights per week on the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur-Kathmandu route.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 30, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.