Delhi-Bound Nepal Airlines Flight From Bhairahawa Gets No Bookings On First Day

Nepal's national flag carrier on Tuesday started operating weekly flights from the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa to Delhi and Hong Kong via Kathmandu but due to no bookings, both the flights took off without passengers. The Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) operated the flights to Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa, making Kathmandu a transit point.

Both the Bhairahawa-Delhi and Bhairahawa-Hong Kong flights operated without any passengers, according to airline sources. Nepal Airlines, the national flag carrier, announced the booking of the ticket for Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa just two days before the flight schedule.

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Bhairahawa, situated 400 km Southwest of Kathmandu, is neither a business center nor a big city. The Gautam Buddha International Airport was upgraded into an international airport recently. All these factors were cited as the reason for not having a single passenger for NA's first flight.

“Air flights from Bhairahawa-Delhi and Bhairahawa-Hong Kong via Kathmandu have been operated from NAC's aircraft arriving in Bhairahawa from Malaysia once a week,” General Manager of the Gautam Buddha International Airport, Hansa Raj Pandey, was quoted as saying by the government-run Gorkhapatra daily.

He admitted that no passengers boarded the plane from the Bhairahawa-based airport for Tuesday's flights. Passengers heading towards both Hong Kong and Kathmandu are sent to their destination via Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu.

In the beginning, there will be Bhairahawa-Hong Kong and Bhairahawa-Delhi flights via Kathmandu every Tuesday. The number of flights will be increased based on demand, according to Nepal Airlines spokesperson Ramesh Paudel.

The NAC opened ticket booking for both routes on Sunday. It started the Malaysia-Bhairahawa route on June 13 and has so far conducted a dozen flights. The Gautam Buddha International Airport was put into commercial operation on May 16, 2022.