Private carrier Shree Airlines is in final preparation to receive it’s first as well as country’s first Canadian turboprop aircraft; Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.
The airline is set to add 3 Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 series aircraft to its fleet and the aircraft are undergoing livery painting work at Arizona in United States (USA).
One of the aircraft has completed all of its inspection and is ready for ferry flight to Nepal while another one is now being ready for paint job.
Image source: Instagram@aviationnepal/@flywithbista
Shree airlines had been seeking for approval to procure the Dash 8 Q400 series aircraft from Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) in early 2018 and then received green signal to purchase the aircraft in mid of 3rd quarter of 2018.
Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) had disregarded the proposal stating that the addition of Bombardier will create difficulty to the authority as it has limited manpower to regulate such aircraft and instead recommended Shree Airlines to add either jet aircraft or Avions de Transport Régional (ATR) turboprops.
Image source: Instagram@aviationnepal/@flywithbista
Shree Airline which has been flying Bombardier aircraft, planned to buy same company’s aircraft.
Presently, there are currently no Q400s in the Nepalese registry. For an operator introducing new type of aircraft for commercial operation the operator firstly need to acquire the aircraft type approval or type certification validation from CAA Nepal before flying it in Nepalese Skies.
Shree Airlines has keen intent on adding a Q400 since, in terms of its fixed-wing fleet as it is currently a Bombardier-only airline and operates two CRJ-200s and two CRJ-700s. The airline has reportedly offered that it will help the CAAN train its staff.
Established around 2 years ago, Shree airlines has not been making expected profit out of its jet engine CRJ aircraft as the aircraft have to hold for long period in sky and are being used for short distance. The airline stated it was happy with the performance of CRJ series aircraft however was not economically viable to operate as its maintenance was also costly.
The airline had intended Pokhara as the base for Dash 8 Q400 series aircraft.
The Nepalese regional specialist originally intended to use the maiden Bombardier turboprop on international services to cities in India. The airline currently operates an exclusively domestic network with CRJ-200 and CRJ-700 series aircraft.
