KATHMANDU, Sept 15: Shree Airlines has decided to operate Kathmandu-Bharatpur flights before Dashain. Shree Airlines said that it is in the final stages of securing permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

Preparations are underway to bring a 72-seater ATR aircraft of Shree Airlines to Bharatpur. On June 17, Shree Airlines had conducted a test flight between Kathmandu and Bharatpur.

Anil Manandhar, manager of Shree Airlines, said the airline plans to begin commercial flights between Kathmandu and Bharatpur following a successful test flight. He said that the flight permit process will be completed within a day or two.

Although a 72-seat aircraft could not land at Bharatpur Airport due to its small runway, other airlines are also interested in operating flights to Bharatpur, following successful test flights with an 80-seat aircraft by Shree Airlines.

The Kathmandu-Bharatpur flight was being operated by a 42-seater aircraft of Buddha Air. Currently, the one-way fare is nearly Rs 4,700, which Buddha Air has been charging. Although the flight duration between Bharatpur-Kathmandu is 20 minutes, the airfare has become quite expensive.

Manandhar said that as the airline will bring a big aircraft, the airfare will also decrease and the passengers will also have convenience. Following the successful flight test of an 80-seater ship by Shree, Buddha also brought a 72-seater ship for a test flight. The runway of Bharatpur airport is only 1200 meters. The process of increasing the runway has also advanced.

The new terminal building of Bharatpur Airport is under construction. The airport expansion work is also progressing. Even though an 80-seater ship will arrive in Bharatpur, night flights cannot be operating without the expansion of the airport.

The airport has planned to expand the airport and build a runway of 1600 meters on the land of the Nepali Army's Bharatpur-based Horse Reproduction Center. 

 
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