Sold out flights

SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, SEP 14 -
Planning to fly home this Dashain? Then hurry up and grab yourself a ticket. The festival rush has started with major domestic airlines reporting a flood of advance bookings.

Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Guna Airlines and Agni Air have said that seats on the major trunk routes are almost sold out. The rush is most evident on the Kathmandu-Biratnagar and Kathmandu-Bhadrapur sectors with flights from Oct. 8-19 (from Ghatasthapana to the end of the festival) almost all fully booked.

Daily seat demand for the eastern region has doubled from the normal 350-400 to 800 seats as it is customary for people to celebrate Dashain with their families.

“Airlines are receiving unprecedented reservations as competition has brought down airfares making air travel affordable,” said Prajol Thapa, marketing manager of Guna Airlines.

Carriers plan to double the frequency to the eastern region in response to the overwhelming demand. Rupesh Joshi, senior marketing manager of Buddha Air, said that there were no seats available on flights to Biratnagar and Bhadrapur. Buddha Air operates five flights to Biratnagar and three to Bhadrapur daily. “We have added one flight on each sector to cater to the increased number of passengers,” Joshi said.

Pradip Shah, marketing manager of Yeti Airlines, said that they operate seven flights to Biratnagar and three to Bhadrapur daily. “We are planning to increase the frequency by two-three flights on certain days as per demand,” he added. Agni Air, which currently flies four times to Biratnagar and twice to Bhadrapur daily, also plans to add three-four flights to handle the Dashain rush.

“We have sold almost 80 percent of the tickets to Biratnagar, Bhadrapur, Bhairahawa and Pokhara,” said Pramod Pandey, marketing director of Agni Air. The airline operates three flights to Bhairahawa and two flights to Pokhara daily.

Guna Airlines said that 95 percent of the seats for 10 days had been booked. “In response to the mounting demand for tickets to Biratnagar, we have decided to add three flights on the sector during Dashain,” marketing manager Thapa said.

Guna flies to Biratnagar twice daily. The airline also plans to start operations to Bhadrapur and Bharatpur in October. Airlines said that it was not viable to add flights to handle the festival rush as there are few passengers on the return trip. Nepal Airlines Corporation, the country’s grand old airline, has not opened bookings for any sector. “We open our Dashain booking only a week in advance,” said spokesperson Pradip Karki.