After the drop in the price of aviation turbine fuel, domestic airlines in Nepal have reduced their fuel surcharge slightly. Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) reduced the air fuel price on Sunday by Rs. 4 per liter for all domestic flights and as per the CAAN regulation airlines are required to revise the fuel surcharge in case of rise or fall of aviation fuel by Rs4.
With the revised airfare, Kathmandu-Dhangadhi sector has received the highest drop in fuel surcharge i.e. Rs181 as passengers are now required to pay Rs12,019 (previously Rs12,200) for one-way ticket to Dhangadhi.
The shortest domestic flight Kathmandu-Simara will now cost Rs3005 (previously Rs3045) after the route received the lowest drop in fuel surcharge i.e. Rs40.
Similarly, other sectors such as Biratnagar, Bhadrapur, Nepalgunj, Pokhara, Janakpur, Bharatpur and Tumlingtar received decrease in airfare between Rs47 to Rs181. Mountain flights on the other hand saw its fuel surcharge drop by Rs138 hence decreasing airfare from Rs11,000 to Rs10,862. The reduction can’t be termed big but it will deliver relief to passengers to some extent.
This is the very first time that the domestic airline operators have to cut the fuel surcharge. Under the CAAN’s new formula, the entire airline operator is now required to update their fuel surcharge. Data analysis of the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) show that domestic carriers welcomed 393,548 additional flyer’s in 2016. The figure includes 27,893 passengers flown by nine domestic helicopter companies.
