Yeti of Nepal to go international

Malaysia Sun (IANS) Wednesday 21st February, 2007

Another Nepali airline now aims to fly high with its plans to start international flights.

Domestic operator Yeti Airlines has received permission from Nepal's government to launch international flights, reports said Wednesday.

In a bid to boost the tourism sector, Nepal's government recently invited applications to go international from domestic operators with at least five years in the trade.

The only application came from Yeti Airlines and the operator has been given the green signal, the Kathmandu Post daily reported, quoting official sources at the ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

Bijaya Shrestha, executive director of the airline, said if things went according to plans, Yeti would start international flights within a year.

It has been given permission to fly to Bangkok, Seoul, Sharjah, Paro and Lhasa. Interestingly, the airline has no immediate plans to operate flights to Delhi, one of the prime destinations eyed by airline operators in Kathmandu.

It remains to be seen how Yeti performs. So far, Nepal's domestic airlines have a bleak record in their attempts to go international.

A domestic operator, Shangri-La Airlines, never took off within the given timeframe while three others began with a bang but ended with a whimper.

Necon Air, Air Nepal International and Cosmic Air started international flights with much fanfare but were compelled to close soon.

Cosmic Air started a fare fight among Indian operators, including the national carrier Indian Airlines by launching a buy one get one free scheme but was unable to continue with its operations.