Will jet era be a successor of aviation industry in Nepal ?

May 26, 2017- KATHMANDU

Going back to the history of Nepali domestic aviation industry, numerous airlines operator started and concluded their air operation service which as a result the country today can witness  only a hand countable number of domestic air operator. RNAC became the first air operator of both domestic and international aviation in 1958. The airline commenced its air operation with a Douglas-3 aircraft. Similarly, Nepal Airways started its operation with Harbin Y12-e aircraft 1998 and became the second air operator. Cosmic Air too followed up Nepal Airways and commenced its operation with Dornier on same year.   Likewise, many other operators registered their service which as a result our country today has eight domestic airline operators.

Though Nepal airlines was the first operator of air service in Nepal but Cosmic Air became the first airline to introduced Fokker-100, a regional jet aircraft to domestic operation. The aircraft currently has been decorated as the First Aircraft museum in Western part of Nepal at Dhangadhi.

Though the first regional jet aircraft was retired and was immobile since 2009, another new private airline operator was born in the country with the motive to introduce another regional jet aircraft in the country. The airline operator is conducting several regional flights assuring that the regional jets can perform much faster and efficient in the country and air travel is all about saving time and getting into business.

The 50 seated Bombardier CRJ200 (Canadair Regional Jet) introduced by Saurya Airlines consists of two General motors CF34-3B1 engines known for its improved efficiency and performed extremely well within two years of the establishment of the company ensuring the trust of passengers by flying fast and maintaining reliability.

The airline with only a fleet served various trunk routes of the country for three years studying the feasibility, performance, endurance, etc of the aircraft. The operator finally made a name for itself in a short period of time and served passengers neatly and in steady with hectic schedules around domestic routes that comprises Dhangadi, Nepalgunj, Biratnagar and Bhadrapur including the conduction of mountain flights too. The company after examining the feasibility, performance, endurance, etc finally added another 50 seater Bombardier CRJ-200 on March 12, 2017. The company now holds the title as the First jet aircraft operator of the country.

After the endeavor of Saurya Airlines, Shree Airlines (biggest helicopter company in the country) had perceived that the performance of the aircraft was excellent and confirmed to add Canadair Regional Jet aircraft to its fleet and jumped to be the country’s’ new fixed-wing operator. The company brought two CRJ200 aircraft in April 2017. Shree Airlines First CRJ-200 aircraft has also gone through test flight and is on the final documentations process for soaring high in the Nepalese Sky. The company had also announced that it will be entering the international operation by bringing in Bombardier CRJ-700 aircraft soon.

Gorkha Airlines which commenced its operation in Nepalese Sky since 1996 has now renewed its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in April this year and had declared to commence its domestic flight operation with two Brazilian-made ERJ-145 twin-engine regional jets produced by Embraer.

Introducing the modern regional jet aircraft in the country will challenge the propeller aircraft which are long serving in the country as the jets are 10 minutes faster than them and air travel is all about saving time.

On a passenger’s perspective, the regional jets are much more comfortable as the aircraft is faster, quieter, with far less cabin vibration and lesser turbulence.

The airline agency and many more international companies have recognized the regional jet aircraft is much safer than the other turboprop aircraft with additional modern equipment.

Likewise, the country’s biggest airline operator Buddha Air and Yeti Airlines is still providing its service from the turboprop aircraft. Buddha Air recently added another ATR 72-212 aircraft on February 7 this year and Yeti Airlines, is now on the final stage for welcoming its first ATR 72-500 series aircraft by end of July and also phasing out its British Aerospace Jetstream 41 aircraft from its fleet in its history. The ATR 72-500 series aircraft is a twin-engine turboprop short-haul regional airliner manufactured jointly by the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR.