Nepal Airlines

Nepal Airlines (Nepali: ne:नेपाल वायुसेवा निगम, is the flag carrier airline of Nepal . Its head office is in the Nepal Airlines Corporation(NAC) Building in Kathmandu, and its main base is Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu. The airline was established in July 1958 as Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) on the same day in which Thai Air was established leading to be Nepal's first airline as Royal Nepal Airlines. The airline's first aircraft was a Douglas DC-3, used to serve domestic routes and a handful of destinations in India. The airline acquired its first jet aircraft, Boeing 727s, in 1972.In 2004 the government of Nepal decided to sell off 49% of its stake in Royal Nepal Airlines to the private sector. As of May 2014, the airline operated a fleet of nine aircraft.

Nepal Airlines is included in the list of air carriers banned in the EU, as of December 2013.

On 30 April 2015, Nepal Airlines received its second Airbus A320, Lumbini. The aircraft was filled with 5 tonnes of aid material to be flown from the Airbus factory in Hamburg, to Nepal on delivery of the aircraft. The aid material will be used in the relief effort for the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.

Nepal

Nepal (ⁱ/nəˈpɔːl/;Nepali: नेपाल [neˈpal]), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country located in South Asia. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi) and a population of approximately 27 million, Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by area and the 41st most populous country. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by China and to the south, east, and west by India. Nepal is separated from Bangladesh by the narrow Indian Siliguri Corridor and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. Kathmandu is the nation's capital city and largest metropolis.

The mountainous north of Nepal has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest (Nepali: सगरमाथा Sagarmāthā). More than 250 peaks over 20,000 ft (6,096 m) above sea level are located in Nepal. The southern Terai region is fertile and humid.

Hinduism is practiced by about 81.3% of Nepalis, the highest percentage of any country. Buddhism is linked historically with Nepal and is practiced by 9% of its people, followed by Islam at 4.4%, Kiratism 3.1%, Christianity 1.4%, and animism 0.4%. A large portion of the population, especially in the hill region, may identify themselves as both Hindu and Buddhist, which can be attributed to the syncretic nature of both faiths in Nepal.

International airport

An international airport is an airport that offers customs and immigration facilities for passengers travelling between countries. International airports are typically larger than domestic airports and often feature longer runways and facilities to accommodate the heavier aircraft commonly used for international and intercontinental travel. International airports often also host domestic flights. Some, such as Frankfurt Airport in Germany are very large; others such as Fa'a'ā International Airport in Tahiti, are quite small.

Buildings, operations and management have become increasingly sophisticated since the mid 20th century, when international airports began to provide infrastructure for international civilian flights. Detailed technical standards have been developed to ensure safety and common coding systems implemented to provide global consistency. The physical structures that serve millions of individual passengers and flights are among the most complex and interconnected in the world. By the second decade of the 21st century, there were over 1,200 international airports and almost two billion international passengers along with 50 million metric tonnes of cargo were passing through them annually.

Tribhuvan International Airport

Tribhuvan International Airport (Nepali: त्रिभुवन अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय विमानस्थल, IATA: KTM, ICAO: VNKT) is an international airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. The airport is about six kilometres from the city centre, in the Kathmandu valley. It is the sole international airport in Nepal and has served as an airfield since 1949. The airport was inaugurated in 1955 by King Mahendra and received its current name in 1964. Originally a grass runway, it was re-laid in concrete in 1957 and has been extended several times. The first jet aircraft landed at Tribhuvan in 1967 and regular jet operations commenced in 1972.

The airport has one domestic and one international terminal. At present, about 30 international airlines connect Nepal to destinations in Asia and the Middle East, and the airport serves as a hub for several Nepalese airlines. In 2001, Royal Nepal Airlines discontinued their flights to Frankfurt and London, which severed Nepal's direct air links with Europe. Recently, Turkish Airlines launched direct flights from Istanbul to Kathmandu, re-establishing Nepal's connection with continental Europe. The Nepalese government has also recently announced that agreements have been made with Air New Zealand, Vietnam Airlines, and El Al to schedule direct flights to Kathmandu from Auckland, Hanoi, and Tel Aviv (Not limited to codeshare flights).

Cosmic Air

Cosmic Air Pvt. Ltd. was an airline based in Kathmandu, Nepal. It operated scheduled domestic and international services out of Kathmandu Airport, aiming at foreign tourists. After already having been forced to temporarily suspended flights in 2005 and 2006 due to budgetary constraints, Cosmic Air was finally shut down in 2008.

History

Cosmic Air was established in 1997 as a company wholly owned by Captain RP Pradhan. Flight operations started on 1 January 1998 with two Mil Mi-17 helicopters. In August 1998 Dornier 228 aircraft were added to the fleet. In October 2004 Cosmic Air acquired its first 105-seat Fokker 100 aircraft on lease from AerCap Ireland. In January and April 2005 two further airplanes of this type were leased to Cosmic Air.

At its height in 2005 international services were launched. Financial problems became public in November of the same year, when the airline had to halt its domestic operations after the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation refused to sell it fuel unless it cleared past debts of 125 million rupees. Operations were restarted after Cosmic Air managed to pay its first instalment of 5 million rupees. Still, Cosmic Air incurred a loss of 620 million rupees for 2005.