The flag carrier of the Himalayan country, Nepal Airlines Corporation, has urged the civil aviation authority to reverse its unilateral decision to reduce the number of flights on the lucrative Kathmandu-Delhi sector from 14 to 10 per week for failing to make use of the recently opened Gautam Buddha International Airport.
According to PTI, in a statement released on Tuesday, Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) lamented that the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) had reduced the number of flights from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Nepal's first international airport, to Delhi, resulting in a loss of revenue and the additional expense of rerouting passengers.
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Flights to Delhi
As of October 30, the authority decreased the number of flights from TIA to Delhi from 14 to 10. The country's capital, Kathmandu, is 300 kilometres to the west of the Gautam Buddha International Airport.
Forceful and Unilateral Decision
According to a NAC official quoted in The Himalayan Times newspaper, the national flag carrier has lost almost Rs 90.5 million each week as a result of the curtailment of four flights per week during the peak period. "We'd been operating two Kathmandu-Delhi flights per day at near full occupancy, which was one of the major income sources for NAC," the official said.
According to the report, the official described the aviation authority's decision to restrict NAC's historical slots in the Kathmandu-Delhi sector as a "forceful and unilateral decision."
Gautam Buddha International Airport
The CAAN cut the number of Nepal Airlines flights in the Kathmandu-Delhi sector from 14 to 10 per week as of October 30 in an effort to lessen aviation traffic at the TIA and to maximise the use of the Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA), Nepal's second international airport.
Gyanendra Bhul, the CAAN's information officer, claimed that the organisation was forced to cut NAC's flights to Delhi since the company was taking its time running the flights from GBIA.
"We are asking the CAAN for permission to operate four additional flights for connecting Delhi," said Archana Khadka, spokesperson of Nepal Airlines.
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Kathmandu - Delhi
Archana Khadka emphasised the significance of the flights in the Kathmandu-Delhi sector for Nepalis seeking medical care and students going to India for further education, as well as for business promotion and connections to other nations.
According to the plan, Nepal Airlines would operate four weekly flights between Kathmandu and Delhi as well as four weekly flights between Delhi and Kathmandu via the Gautam Buddha International Airport, Archana Khadka stated.
With inputs from PTI
