Himalaya Airlines has decided to
launch Kathmandu-Doha flights instead after failing to obtain clearance to
operate services to New Delhi as per its original plan. The carrier, a Nepal-China
joint venture company, said on Monday that it would be starting regular flights
to the Qatari capital on May 31. It will be flying its new Airbus 320 from
Kathmandu to Doha on a regular basis after conducting charter flights to
Colombo, Sri Lanka. The airline had flown Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his
entourage to Beijing during his official visit to China in March.Raju KC,
commercial general manager of Himalaya, said they would be operating three
flights weekly to Doha initially. “We will soon be conducting daily flights to
Doha on a regular basis,” he said.According to him, the introduction of their
fleet to international markets could help increase the inbound market share of
Nepali airlines. “In the next five years, we have targeted to increase the
market share of Nepali carriers to 50 percent from the present 5 percent.
Due to the absence of competitive
airlines in the country, much of Nepal's international market has been secured
by international airlines. Himalaya said its flight to Doha would depart
Kathmandu at 11 pm while the return flight would leave Doha at 2:30 am. Vijay
Shrestha, vice-president, administration of Himalaya, said they had created the
flight schedule keeping the wishes of travelers in mind. Himalaya had
originally planned to fly the Kathmandu-Doha route from April 12. It will be
the second carrier to connect Qatar and Nepal after Qatar Airways. Shrestha
said they would be delivering their service ‘on time performance’ basis and at
competitive prices. “We are offering excellent customer service with a flavor
of Nepali culture and at prices similar to those of budget carriers,” he said.
Himalaya has appointed Cleopatra Travels as its General Sales Agents that will
be conducting passenger and cargo related services on behalf of the airline.
Apart from Doha, the company has been planning
to operate flights to Delhi and various parts of China. Shrestha said they had
already applied for a permit to link Delhi and that the paperwork was being
processed. “We have also planned to extend services to Chengdu, Lhasa and
Beijing in China in the near future.”He said they had targeted to expand the
fleet to 15 Airbus 320s in the next five years and connect Kathmandu with
various cities in Asia and beyond. The airline acquired its first aircraft, an
Airbus 320, on March 9.The company will introduce long-haul wide-body aircraft
of the A330 family in due course of time to operate direct flights to Japan,
Korea, Europe, Australia and North America," Shrestha said. It had
previously planned to launch scheduled flights in October 2014, but the plan
was deferred due to 'some technical problems'. It was further delayed by the
devastating April 25 earthquake. source by kathmandu post.
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