-KATHMANDU
Nepal Airlines’ Corporation (NAC) second Airbus A330-243 aircraft will be arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport from Toulouse, France today (July 26, 2018) at 08:30 AM Local Time.
The aircraft with the registration number 9N-ALZ-MSN 1878, was welcomed by a ceremonial water cannon salute after it touched down.
This is the second A330-243 aircraft that has been delivered to the airline within the year 2018 and now the airline is the owner of two Airbus A330, two Airbus A320 and a vintage Boeing 757-2F8 aircraft in its fleet for international flight operation, as per a media release.
The airline held a special welcome ceremony on the Hangar of Tribhuvan International Airport. Nepal Airlines’ Managaing Director Mr. Sugat Ratna Kansakar along with senior management team from CAA Nepal and Ministry was present during the event.
The two A330-243s, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, feature a two-class cabin configuration that will seat a total of 274 passengers—18 in business class and 256 in economy class where each seat equipped with RAVE Centric, the latest in-seat AVOD in-flight entertainment configurations, respectively.
The second Airbus will enter into service in September, 2018. Both the Airbus A330-243 will facilitate flights to new sectors such as Seoul (South Korea), Tokyo (Japan), Dammam (Saudi Arabia) and Sydney (Australia) along with currently flying major sectors like Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Doha.
Earlier, on July 23, the first ever A330-243 ‘9N-ALY’ had already accomplished its proving flight on Kathmandu-Delhi-Kathmandu sector under the command of Nepalese and Foreign Crews (Capt. Francios Fenart, Capt. Srawan Rijal, AME Anthony Brown) including CAA Nepal officials. The first A330 will be deployed on commercial operation from first of August, this year, NAC stated.
Both aircraft have been procured from Airbus via a consortium of three firms that include Portuguese ACMI/charter specialists HiFly, AAR Aircraft Sales & Leasing , and the German Aviation Capital Corporation (GACC).
