NAC plans to operate to Pakistan

Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is planning to operate direct flights to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Maldives after acquiring two narrow-body aircraft.

“We are mulling over operating commercial flights to all South Asian destinations to grab a pie of growing number of middle-class tourists in the region,” said Sugat Ratna Kansakar, managing director at NAC.

According to Kansakar, the draft of the plan has been prepared and will soon be forwarded to NAC board for approval.

“NAC has received many inquiries from ambassadors and businesspersons on direct connectivity to the aforementioned destinations,” he added. “After acquiring the 158-seater Airbus A320-200 NEO model narrow-body aircraft, NAC is planning to operate two weekly flights to these destinations.”

On June 11, a meeting of board of directors of NAC — the national flag carrier — had approved the purchase of two 158-seater narrow-body Airbus-320 NEO aircraft.

On July 31, the NAC executive committee decided to expand its international fleet by acquiring five more wide-body aircraft and eight narrow-body aircraft, including two Airbus 320-200 NEO aircraft. Back then, the NAC executive committee had also approved its five-year working plan to expand the national carrier’s presence in the international arena. However, decision is yet to be approved by board of directors.

NAC is currently flying to New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Doha and Dubai. It has plans to fly to Japan and South Korea in the near future. At present, NAC has been providing its service to international passengers through one Boeing 757 and two Airbus 320-200 narrow-body and two Airbus 330-200 wide-body aircraft.

In November 2014, the national flag carrier of Pakistan, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), stopped flights to Nepal. PIA had started flights to Kathmandu in 1997 after Nepal and Pakistan signed bilateral aviation agreement in 1995. PIA had been operating daily flights from Karachi to Kathmandu.

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