KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 2
Kuwait Airways has sought approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to conduct four charter flights from the Tribhuvan International Airport and the remaining charter flights from the Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) per week from November 12 onwards. The airline has also submitted plans to start regular flights to and from Nepal to the regulatory body, however, the process will take some time, according to an official.
According to Gyanendra Bhul, information officer of CAAN, the authority has already green-lighted Kuwait Airways to conduct six charter flights till November 11. "The airline company has been permitted to conduct four charter flights from the TIA and two from GBIA at the moment. After the authorisation process, the airline will be permitted to schedule four charter flights from TIA per week and the remaining from GBIA," he said.
Bhul also shared that the proposed plan by the airline company to operate regular flights from GBIA will take around a month or more to materialise. "Establishing ground handling agents and some official proceedings are still yet to be finalised before starting commercial flights," he shared.
Meanwhile, Wizz Air, a Hungarian airline, which had sought permission to start operations at the GBIA from October 30, has postponed its flight dates by a month due to some assessment reasons, according to CAAN. The flights will take place between Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and Nepal three days a week.
Earlier, CAAN had sent a notice mandating international and domestic airlines conducting more than three flights a day to allocate a flight from GBIA from December 16 onwards, and domestic companies from October 30.
The authority directed three international airlines, along with Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) and Himalaya Airlines to operate a flight a day from GBIA. At present, only Jazeera Airways is conducting three flights a week at GBIA.
"While Himalaya Airlines has announced plans to conduct flights from GBIA in the coming days, the NAC has decided to announce their decision after a discussion among their board," Bhul said.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 3, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
