KATHMANDU, Oct 28: The Civil Aviation Authority Nepal (CAAN) barred a flight operated by Thai AirAsia from landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) for an hour on Sunday after the aircraft arrived in Nepal without a flight permit. The plane was only permitted to land at the airport after considering the plight and security of the passengers on board.
As per the general manager of the TIA Jagannath Niraula, the flight permit of the plane expired on Saturday. He informed Republica that representatives of the airlines in Nepal had convinced the operator that they would arrange the permit upon the arrival of the flight.
“It is said that the plane came to Nepal because AirAsia's Nepalese representative said they would arrange the flight permit,” he said, “We allowed the aircraft to land only after considering the sensitivity of the passengers on board.”
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Airline operators need to gain a flight permit for the summer and winter seasons for Nepal. The Thai AirAsia flight had only received a permit for the summer season which ended on October 26. The flight schedule for winter is valid from October 27 to March 31 of next year.
According to the Information Officer of the CAAN, Gyanendra Bhul, the regulatory body has suspended all flights of the airlines for the time being. In addition, the license of the airlines' Nepali General Sales Agent (GSA) has been scrapped.
“Today's flight from the airlines was only permitted to operate as a 'special chartered' flight,” he said.
According to him, holding the plane for an extended period of time in the sky raised security concerns in addition to the sensitivity of the passengers on board. “We allowed today's flight to land considering the safety of the passengers,” he said.
