KATHMANDU, Nov 4: Thai AirAsia has resumed flights to Kathmandu. It also began commercial flights from Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) in Bhairahawa starting Sunday.
Thai AirAsia has become the fourth airline to operate commercial flights at the country’s second international airport. Previously, Kuwait's Jazeera Airways, Nepal’s Himalaya Airlines, and the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines, operated flights from there. Jazeera Airways will resume flights from this airport starting Saturday, November 9. After suspending flights for 10 months, the airline is set to restart operations at the same airport. Jazeera will operate flights three days a week—Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Similarly, the UAE’s national flag-carrier, Fly Dubai, will start daily flights from November 10. Fly Dubai will operate flights seven days a week on the Dubai–Bhairahawa and Bhairahawa–Kathmandu–Dubai routes. The airport has stated that all necessary administrative services for international airport operations, including immigration, customs, and security, are in place.
The government has moved forward with a plan to fully operationalize the national pride projects, GBIA and Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA). Following this plan, international airlines are set to begin flights one after another.
Thai AirAsia completes test flight at GBIA; regular flights to...
According to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Spokesperson Hansraj Pandey, international flights at the GBIA are gradually expanding. CAAN is also working to operate the airport at full commercial capacity. Efforts are underway to maximize commercial flights at the GBIA in line with the government’s plan.
"Flights are gradually increasing, and destinations are expanding. We believe that international airlines will continue to expand flights based on passenger demand and volume in the coming days," Spokesperson Pandey said.
A national pride project, the GBIA, was inaugurated on Buddha Jayanti, May 16, 2022. Nepal Airlines’ wide-body A330 aircraft conducted a test flight at the airport. Last year, Nepal Airlines began flights from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Bhairahawa's GBIA.
Thai AirAsia was penalized by the regulator, CAAN, for arriving in Kathmandu on October 27 without flight authorization. CAAN lifted the flight suspension on the condition that AirAsia would also operate flights from Bhairahawa. With this approval, the airline began simultaneous flights to Kathmandu and Bhairahawa on November 3. Thai AirAsia resumed flights at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on October 2.
TIA General Manager Jagannath Niraula reported that Thai AirAsia has begun simultaneous flights to Bhairahawa and Kathmandu starting Sunday. According to him, the airline will operate flights to Kathmandu on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while flights to Bhairahawa will be on Mondays and Thursdays. Starting Saturday, the airline will operate regular weekly flights from the GBIA every Monday and Thursday, according to CAAN.
CAAN has granted flight approval to Thai AirAsia with the condition that the airline operates flights from both Kathmandu and Bhairahawa. The company will now have four flights in Kathmandu and two in Bhairahawa. If the flight from Bhairahawa is canceled, the flight from Kathmandu will automatically be canceled as well, according to CAAN. According to the ‘approval schedule,’ the company is required to operate flights simultaneously to both Kathmandu and Bhairahawa.
CAAN has established the ‘winter schedule’ for international flights from October 27, 2024, to March 31, 2025. A total of 30 airline companies, including three from Nepal, have been operating international flights in Nepal.
