KATHMANDU, Aug 15: Shree Airlines has received permission from Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) to operate flights to five destinations of India and Bangladesh.
The ministry on Wednesday permitted the airline to conduct flights to New Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Banglore of India and Dhaka of Bangladesh, an official of the airline told Republica.
Now, the airline will have to get permission from Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) -- the aviation regulator body of Nepal -- and airport authorities of India and Bangladesh to operate flights to their respective destinations.
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Talking to Republica, Anil Manandhar, corporate manager of Shree Airlines, said it might take some time to get permission from the CAAN. "We will operate flights as soon as we get go-ahead from the authority," Manandhar said, adding: "Our international flights are aimed at helping the Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign."
Manandhar added that the private carrier will operate chartered flights to different destinations during the upcoming Dashain festival. The airline plans to use 50-seater CRJ 200 and 70-seater CRJ 700 for the flights.
The CAAN had permitted Shree Airlines to operate chartered flights to international destinations six months ago. “We recently operated a chartered flight to Varanasi of India,” Manandhar added.Shree Airlines is also expecting the arrival of three Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 series aircraft. According to Manandhar, the aircraft will most probably arrive within a week. It had received permission from the CAAN to purchase the aircraft in 2018.
The privately-owned carrier currently operates a fleet of two Bombardier CRJ 200 and two CRJ 700 aircraft. It operates scheduled flights to domestic destinations like Bhairahawa, Biratnagar, Bhadrapur, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi and Rajbiraj. Similarly, it operates a fleet of six MI 17 and two AS 350 B3e helicopters.
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Meanwhile, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai on Wednesday said that ministry was expediting the process of permitting private carriers to operate international flights.
Speaking at an interaction organized by Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC), Bhattarai said that needful preparations are being done to make Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign a grand success. He also said that the ministry would soon start a study expensive flight fare and high cost of aviation turbine fuel in Nepal.
Also speaking at the program, NCC President Rajesh Kazi Shrestha drew attention of the minister toward the need to revise ground handling and landing fees at Tribhuvan International Airport.
