Domestic aviation high, passenger movement up 13pc

Price war among airlines has benefited customers, encouraging more middle-income people to travel by air

SANGAM PRASAIN

KATHMANDU, DEC 25 -

Domestic airlines experienced a steep increase in passenger movement in the first nine months of 2010.

According to the statistics released by Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the number of air travellers rose 13 percent to 1,073,391 in the review period from 949,135 in the same period last year. There were 1,377,868 fliers in the whole of 2009.

There are eight domestic airlines and five helicopter services currently operating from Kathmandu.

While passenger movement grew 13 percent, domestic aircraft movement increased a nominal 2.09 percent in the period under review. Aircraft movement had seen a 19.72 percent surge in the first nine months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.

“A price war among airlines has benefited customers, encouraging more middle-income people to travel by air,” said Prajwol Thapa, marketing manager of Guna Airlines.

Moreover, higher tourist arrivals and greater activity by NGOs and INGOs around the country has resulted in an increase in the number of passengers for Nepal’s domestic airlines, Thapa added.

Almost all the domestic carriers saw their business taking off during the period. Buddha Air carried 421,310 passengers in the first nine months of 2010, up 5 percent from 402,931 last year.

Yeti Air carried 333,528 passengers, down 7.12 percent from 359,115 last year as its subsidiary Tara Air took over its short-haul routes. Tara Air, which started operations in June 2009, flew 64,630 passengers during the review period.

Agni Air’s passenger movement rose 25.58 percent to 138,150 from 110,005 last year. Guna Airlines, which started service in May 2009, was fourth with 68,803 passengers compared to 13,615 previously.

Nepal Airlines and Sita Air carried fewer passengers compared to last year. The number of travellers flying Nepal Airlines dropped 13.81 percent to 32,604. Sita Air carried 8,405 passengers against 16,298 previously.