By year-end, NAC will serve nine international destinations

KATHMANDU, MAY 24 - By the year-end, Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) will resume flights to four major destinations: Guangzhou, Dubai, Bangalore and Mumbai. With this, the number of NAC’s international routes will increase from four to nine.

The national flag carrier, which recently added the second Airbus A320 jet to its fleet, will re-start the services to the destinations from mid-June. NAC’s second Airbus jet named Lumbini landed at Tribhuvan International Airport on May 1.

NAC officials said the flights on Kathmandu -Bangalore and Kathmandu -Mumbai sectors would resume from June 16. Meanwhile, direct flights on the Kathmandu -Dubai sector will start by July, after ceasing operations in 2012. The UAE is one of the most attractive destinations of Nepali migrant workers. NAC plans to resume operations on the Kathmandu -Guangzhou sector—the third largest city in South Central China—from September. “As per our plan, we will be connecting Guangzhou from September,” said NAC Spokesperson Ram Hari Sharma.

NAC used to fly to Shanghai until seven years ago, but was forced to suspend the route due to the lack of aircraft. The corporation’s plan to fly on the Kathmandu -Guangzhou route is due to increased travel demand. Nepal’s trade with China has significantly increased through Guangzhou, making the city a trade hub for Nepal in recent times.

According to preliminary data of the Tourism Ministry, Nepal received 123,805 Chinese visitors in 2014, up 10 percent year-on-year.

Even as the demand for flight seats to Nepal has increased exponentially in China, NAC has been unable to capitalise on it because of the lack of aircraft.

Currently, four Chinese carriers—Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Sichuan Airlines—connect the mainland China with Nepal.

The corporation has formally invited applications from interested travel agents in the UAE and Guangzhou to become its general sales agents (GSA) for passenger and cargo flights.

The GSAs have been given a 15-day deadline to submit their proposals in both destinations, while the Delhi-based GSA will look after Bangalore and Mumbai sectors.

“In the first phase of our business plan, we will gradually resume flights to the destinations that we lost in the past due to the lack of aircraft,” said Sharma. “New destinations will be planned after resuming flights to the old ones.”

Source: eKantipur