Kathmandu, Oct13: Indian carriers fly 10 daily services from New Delhi to Kathmandu.Until two years ago Nepal Airlines ran two daily flights to Delhi, now it runs one.

Qatar Airways flies three daily flights to Kathmandu. Nepal Airlines runs only five weekly flights to Doha, none daily. In the UAE Flydubai flies four daily services from Dubai to Kathmandu. Air Arabia runs three daily flights from Sharjah and two from Abu Dhabi. Nepal Airlines operates four weekly flights.

These are high demand routes. The carrier cut flights and began service to Guangzhou, China, from September 25. Less than a month later the Guangzhou route stalled because of low passengers.

Nepal Airlines used an A320 200 with 158 seats on the route. On one flight there was one passenger going to Guangzhou and eight returning. The airline suspended the flight scheduled to depart October 18 and return October 19. The airline has flown to Guangzhou without a fixed schedule, and those flights lacked enough passengers.

The first planned Guangzhou flight on September 25 did not depart because China had not approved the flight plan. Only after 24 hours did the plane go to China. The September 26 departure carried 14 passengers to China, all Nepal Airlines staff.

Before the Dashain festival one flight had 130 arriving passengers. On September 28 the plane went with nine passengers. The return on September 29 carried 120 passengers.

The airline set a third flight for October 16, returning on the 17th. Bookings showed 48 going and 62 returning for that flight.

With one person outbound and eight returning the fourth flight scheduled for October 18 and 19 was cancelled.

A source said the airline began Guangzhou flights to please political leaders, not because routes made business sense.

The foreign affairs and tourism ministries asked for China flights, the tourism ministry said the market is strategically important.

But Nepal Airlines showed negligence from the first flight. The inaugural flight scheduled for 10.30 pm on the 25th actually left 24 hours later.

The plane left at 10.30 pm on the 26th. Passengers had already taken boarding passes, but China had not approved the landing plan.

Without approval a plane cannot land. The airline sold tickets for the promotional flight before China cleared the flight plan, damaging the nation's reputation.

After the failed first flight trust dropped and affected other services, a source said.

Officials said the airline ignores basic commercial checks before opening a new route. Instead it focuses on appointing GSAs for ticket sales and sending staff to new stations, which creates misuse and damages the carrier.

People's News Monitoring Service

Empty seats force Nepal Airlines to suspend Guangzhou flights - Peoples' Review