Kathmandu, September 23

Shree Airlines has announced that it will provide discounts for senior citizens as a festive offer. Targeting the upcoming festivals of Dashain, Tihar and Chhath, Shree Airlines has brought two different offers of discounts for passengers in between the ages of 75 and 85 years and those above 85 years.

As per the airline company, it will provide 50 per cent discount to passengers in between the ages of 75 and 85 years, while passengers above 85 years can travel at Rs 500 only. The festive discount offer will be applicable for all destinations that Shree Airlines flies to.

The offer will be valid from the first day of Dashain — September 29 — till November 2. Although the government has been requesting airline firms to provide 50 per cent discount to senior citizens, airline companies have been refusing to accept the government’s proposal. Amidst this, Shree Airlines has brought this offer as a pilot project.

“In the first phase, we are offering discounts to senior citizens during the festive season only. Whether we continue with this offer after the festive season will be determined by the overall transaction of the festive season,” said Anil Manandhar, corporate manager of Shree Airlines.

During the festive season, around three million people leave Kathmandu to celebrate the festivals in their hometowns. Hence, to ease the travel of senior citizens, Shree Airlines has offered this scheme, Manandhar added. He, however, said that only two passengers will get the offer for each flight on a first come, first served basis. “If the scheme goes well, we may continue the facility,” he added.

Shree Airlines, which began its operation in 2002 as a helicopter service provider, launched fixed-wing air operations in August 2017. Since then, it has been operating scheduled domestic flights to Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi, Bhairahawa, Rajbiraj and Bhadrapur. It is adding more aircraft to its fleet aiming to operate international flights too.