KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 31
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has halted operation of international chartered flights for Nepal Airlines Corporation and Himalaya Airlines from Tribhuvan International Airport until the two airline companies shift their flights to Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa.
According to CAAN, discussions are under way to shift chartered flights of other companies to GBIA as well.
With the start of the winter schedule from October 30 till March 25 of 2023, CAAN has directed the two airline companies to conduct one flight from GBIA per three flights from TIA.
Earlier, CAAN had sent a notice mandating international airlines conducting more than three flights a day to allocate a flight from GBIA from December 16 onwards, and domestic companies from October 30.
Yesterday afternoon, an NAC flight for New Delhi was cancelled, leaving 254 passengers stranded at TIA as the airline company did not have a flight scheduled.
CAAN had sought clarification from NAC within 24 hours for handing boarding passes to passengers without a flight schedule and disrupting airport security.
The authority has also reduced the number of flights for domestic airline companies flying to India from TIA to 10 from 14 per week and increased flights from GBIA to four per week.
NAC was also denied a morning flight to New Delhi today as the flight was also not scheduled for the early hours. "We had been operating 14 flights from TIA and it was reduced to 10.
As a result, our afternoon flights on Sundays and Fridays and morning flights on Mondays and Thursdays have been reduced.
Most of the remaining passengers were shifted to another flight and NAC is still making efforts to send the remaining passengers to their destinations," Archana Khadka, spokesperson for NAC, said.
Issuing a press release today, NAC apologised to passengers for the inconvenience caused and expressed commitment not to repeat such mistakes in the future.
CAAN Director General Pradip Adhikari said the regulatory body had resorted to the move to bring GBIA into full operation. However, diplomatic chartered flights, flights by cargo airlines and the army can continue to operate from TIA, he said.
Gyanendra Bhul, information officer at CAAN, further clarified that the operation of chartered flights from TIA had been suspended for Himalaya Airlines and NAC until the two companies shifted their flights to Bhairahawa.
CAAN had earlier directed three international airlines, along with NAC and the Himalaya Airlines to operate a flight a day from GBIA. At present, only Jazeera Airways is running three flights a week at GBIA.
"A discussion is being held on operation of chartered flights by other airline companies. The airline companies have also expressed commitment to shift flights to GBIA and further instructions and decisions will be made public in the coming days," Bhul added.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 1, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
