KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 15
With the general elections around the corner, the demand for air tickets has gone up significantly, say domestic airline operators.
According to Spokesperson for Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Teknath Sitaula, the passenger movement at the domestic terminal has surged by 40 per cent in the recent days due to upcoming elections.
"The domestic terminal is currently handling around 13,000 passengers per day against an average of 8,000 passengers on normal days," Sitaula informed The Himalayan Times, attributing the increased movement to the general elections.
The general elections are scheduled to be held in the country on November 20. Meanwhile, the domestic airlines have announced that all domestic flights have been suspended on the day of the election in accordance with the 'Standard Related to Vehicular Movement on Voting Day, Local Level Member Election 2022' issued by the Election Commission.
Yograj Kandel, spokesperson for the Airlines Operators Association of Nepal, informed that the one-way pressure for departure from the Kathmandu valley has increased significantly this week.
"More than 90 per cent tickets have been booked for departure flights from the Kathmandu valley between November 17 and 19," Kandel said.
"Then there will be similar pressure for return tickets to TIA from November 22 to 24."
The private domestic airline companies also said that they have witnessed air traffic pressure ahead of the elections.
Parashar Jung Pandey, executive manager at Buddha Air, said that the demand for air tickets has gone up in recent days. "The demand for tickets from Kathmandu has increased significantly, especially for coming Friday and Saturday, due to the elections."
According to him, the flight occupancy is currently above 90 per cent and is likely to increase further, "But we don't have any plans of increasing the number of flights," he added.
Likewise, Spokesperson for Yeti Airlines Sudarshan Bartaula also said that the outflow of passengers has gone up.
"The average occupancy for each flight is around 80 per cent and we're hoping that it will rise further ahead of the election day," he said However, Bartaula said the surging price of aviation turbine fuel, which has made air tickets expensive, has been a deterrent for people travelling to their hometowns for the elections.
"The current occupancy is less compared to the festive season due to the expensive air tickets."
Nevertheless, he informed that Tara Air, which mostly serves remote destinations, has seen full occupancy in the recent days.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 16, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
